After a rough pair of losses going into the bye week, the Blue Jackets needed to get things back on track - particularly since the Dallas Stars were coming in red hot, having won eight of their last eleven games.
One might have expected Sergei Bobrovsky to be given the call, but the coaching staff decided to trust in Joonas Korpisalo, who had spent the bye week in Cleveland playing with the Monsters.
This game would also mark the debut for newly acquired Jussi Jokinen, who joined the club after being claimed off waivers from LA, giving him a chance to play in front of the home crowd.