But when the two clubs get together -- three times so far this season -- the games have been unpredictable, uncoordinated and, at times, unsightly.

The Blue Jackets fell behind 3-0 in the first period on a rare off night by rookie goaltender Steve Mason and got thumped 7-3 by the Stars last night in front of 18,049 in Nationwide Arena.

"The goaltending wasn't very good tonight, but they're not totally to blame," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We got beat to way too many pucks in our own zone.

"They won too many races, too many loose-puck battles, too many one-on-ones. They pulled it off the boards on us way too many times."

It matched the most goals the Blue Jackets have allowed this season.

Mason -- who the club revealed has been battling mononucleosis -- got pulled midway through the first period after stopping only five of eight shots, the first hook of his NHL career. He was replaced by Wade Dubielewicz, who made his Columbus debut.

Fedor Tyutin, Kristian Huselius and Jared Boll had goals for the Blue Jackets, who lost for just the third time in their past 13 home games.

For the Stars, James Neal (two goals), Loui Eriksson, Brian Sutherby, Steve Ott, Trevor Daley and Andrew Hutchinson scored. Mike Modano had two assists, and 15 Stars had at least a point.

Meanwhile, goaltender Marty Turco had 35 saves to improve to 13-1-0-2 against the Blue Jackets in his career.

The Stars led 2-0 only 8:22 into the game on goals by Neal and Eriksson.

"Complete defensive breakdown," defenseman Marc Methot said. "There's no surprise or secret out there. You guys saw it.

"It was embarrassing on our end."

The Blue Jackets had a prime chance to make it 2-1 at 10:30 of the first period, but center Manny Malhotra hit a post after he was set up beautifully by Huselius.

The puck went the other way. And only 13 seconds later, Sutherby jammed a rebound through Mason's pads to make it 3-0.

It was that kind of night.

"Some of our performances surprised me," Hitchcock said. "We haven't been soft in our own zone, but we were today.

"We had a lot of guys who didn't battle the way they usually battle, and I'm not really sure why."

Mason is 2-3-1 this season in the second game of back-to-backs. Dubielewicz stopped 19 of 23 shots.

The Blue Jackets pulled to 3-2 on Huselius' goal late in the first period and Tyutin's early in the second.

But the Stars pushed the lead back to 5-2 on goals by Neal and Ott.

The first two meetings this season were in Dallas. The Blue Jackets won the first, 5-4 in overtime, and lost the second, 6-5 in a shootout.

It was a sobering loss last night for the Blue Jackets. After Friday's 1-0 win over Ottawa, the Jackets peaked at No. 6 in the Western Conference standings. Last night's loss dropped them to ninth.

"We had a couple of unlucky bounces," Dubielewicz said. "But it just wasn't acceptable.

"Just forget about it and put it behind you and move forward."

aportzline@dispatch.com