Thomas Harley’s last shot came with three seconds left in overtime, a final bid that Cam Talbot stopped before the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets went to the shootout. The ending was familiar in its frustration: Dallas lost 2-1, earning one standings point. Harley’s night was more encouraging.
He handled a larger assignment by expanding his own game, rather than trying to become a substitute Miro Heiskanen.
The overtime work made that plain. Harley had already tested Talbot at 2:01 of the extra period, then tried again with three seconds remaining. Tyler Seguin also got a Dallas attempt at 4:45, with 15 seconds left on the clock.
Columbus had one overtime shot, from Kent Johnson at 3:48. None went in, and the Blue Jackets prevailed 2-0 in the shootout after five scoreless minutes.
Harley’s final attempt was the punctuation mark on 28:31 of responsibility. That was the highest total among Dallas defensemen, ahead of Esa Lindell’s 26:05 and Nils Lundkvist’s 21:06. Heiskanen missed the game because of an upper-body problem sustained Tuesday at Washington, leaving Dallas to spread the work without asking one player to reproduce every part of Heiskanen’s role.
Harley put five shots on target, matching Lindell for the Dallas lead, and blocked three Columbus attempts. He finished plus-1. His increased work included both helping DeSmith and testing Talbot, which matters more here than whether the evening produced a point beside his name. He was available for extended minutes without giving up his contribution to the attack.
That contribution had value even before the last overtime attempt. A heavier assignment can become an exercise in merely getting through shifts. Harley still put the puck on net, including the attempt at 2:01 of overtime.
None of his five shots went in, so this was no offensive rescue. It was an example of continuing to offer something at Talbot’s end while Dallas redistributed the minutes left by Heiskanen’s absence.
That margin disappeared with 3:14 left in regulation. Zach Werenski scored Columbus’ equalizer, sending the game into overtime and ensuring that the Stars’ defensive effort would be judged against another long stretch of high-pressure hockey. Dallas allowed 30 shots to Columbus’ 28, while Casey DeSmith stopped 29 of them over 65:00.
The goaltender’s performance helped keep the game within reach, but it should not obscure that the defense held Columbus to one goal before the shootout.
Lindell and Lundkvist carried substantial shares as well. The distribution matters because no replacement can simply inherit every minute and every task from an injured teammate. Dallas used a group to cover the absence. Harley’s portion was the largest, and his shots and blocks supplied tangible contributions within that larger job.
The game also illustrated the limit of the larger job. Cam Talbot stopped 27 of Dallas’ 28 shots, including a spinning glove stop on Lindell at 9:16 of the second period and a left-pad save on Robertson’s breakaway at 16:45. Those interventions kept Dallas from building a cushion before Rantanen finally scored.
