POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Stars 3, Caps 2

Hard Time With Sunday -The Caps saw their modest four-game winning streak and their eight-game point streak (7-0-1) - both tied for their longest of the season - fall by the wayside on Sunday in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. Facing a Stars team that played and lost a day earlier to the Islanders in New York, the Caps took too long to establish their game and get rolling in the first.

Despite falling 4-2 in Saturday's game against the Islanders, the Stars felt as though they played well enough to win that contest, and they picked up where they left off. Dallas struck twice in the first period, and the Caps were playing catch-up for the rest of the afternoon.
Dallas out-attempted the Caps by 20-12 at 5-on-5 in the first frame, getting an early 5-on-5 goal from Alexander Radulov and a late power-play goal from Roope Hintz in the first.
The early portion of the middle frame was more of the same, although the Caps did get on the board with an Alex Ovechkin power-play goal at 4:55 of the second. Dallas got that goal back on Hintz's second power-play goal at 10:38 of the second, putting the Caps back into a two-goal hole.
From the start of the second period until Hintz's second goal, the Stars owned a lopsided 21-6 advantage in 5-on-5 shot attempts. The Caps were able to block nine of those 21 tries and Dallas missed the net on five others.
"I think we should not play like that because they were coming into a back-to-back," says Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov, whose 10th goal of the season got the Caps within one in the third period. "I think we were the fresher team and we should put more pressure on them and play in the offensive zone, and be up in the score."
Asked whether he thought the Caps did enough to remind the Stars that they played the day before, Laviolette responded thusly:
"Over the first 20 minutes, no. I thought it was better [after]; I thought each period got better, but the period I'll go back and look at is the first. We were probably outchanced, 10-3. In the second period, I thought we started to come a little bit. We were playing a desperate team. The third period, I thought we pushed, but like I said, you can't give out two-goal leads and expect to come back and win every game once you do that."
The Caps outshot the Stars 14-2 in the third, but could only manage the Orlov goal, and they suffered their first regulation loss in the month of March (7-1-1).
With Sunday's win in Washington, Dallas ended the day a point out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
"It feels great," says Stars goalie Jake Oettinger. "Obviously we all know how important this game was for us. We've got to keep plugging away and try to win those games in hand that we have. To come into this building - obviously, they've been playing really well - and to get a win is huge."
Washington has won only one of its last 10 games (1-6-3) against Dallas in the District.
The Great Eight Update - Ovechkin's power-play goal in the second was his 40th goal of the season, marking the 12th time in his 17-year NHL career that he has scored 40 or more goals in a season. That ties him with Wayne Gretzky for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history.
Ovechkin scored his 40th goal in his 62nd game of the season, the fewest games required by a player aged 36 or older to reach 40 in League history. Previously, Gordie Howe (40 goals in 70 games in 1968-69) and Teemu Selanne (40 goals in 70 games in 2006-07) shared that mark.
Ovechkin is the fourth player to reach the 40-goal plateau this season, and in doing so, he victimized Oettinger for the first time, the 156th different goaltender that Ovechkin has scored against over the course of his NHL career.
You've Got The Power -The Stars came into the District for the finale of a four-game road trip on Sunday, also finishing up a set of back-to-back games, and seeking a split on the trip.
Prior to Sunday's game, the Stars were 0-for-9 on the road trip on the power play, but they turned that stat around by striking on each of their first two extra-man opportunities against the Capitals. Hintz scored both of those power-play goals for the Stars, and the second one turned out to be the game-winner in Sunday's Stars win.
Hintz entered the game with five power-play goals on the season - third-most on the team - but he hadn't scored an extra-man tally since Jan. 30.
"Of course it's nice to get some power-play goals here, because it's been struggling a little," says Hintz. "It was nice to see that we got it going today, and it was nice to score."
The Stars' two-goal extra-man outburst against the Caps came in the midst of a strong stretch for Washington's penalty-killing outfit. The Caps had killed off 37 of 41 (90.2 percent) penalty killing missions over their previous 14 games, and they had not been dented for multiple power-play goals against in the same game since Feb. 8 when they yielded a pair of power-play goals in a 5-4 loss to Columbus.
Washington's own power play is in the midst of its best run of the season, scoring 20 times in its last 20 games with a 30.3 percent success rate over that span. The Caps' 20-game run of success started against the Stars in Dallas on Jan. 28 when they went 2-for-2 on the power play in a 5-0 victory.
Heartfelt Holtby Tribute - Longtime Caps goaltender Braden Holtby returned to Capital One Arena for the first time since departing the District as an unrestricted free agent following the 2019-20 season. Out of action with a lower body injury, Holtby was in the house but not in uniform.
At the first television timeout of the first period, the Caps aired a stirring and emotional tribute to the team's backbone for more than a decade. Holtby was given a rousing and lasting ovation, the crowd chanted his name as play resumed following the video.
Holtby posted a sterling 282-122-46 record in 10 seasons in the Capitals' crease, and only Olie Kolzig (who was also in the house on Sunday) had more (301) in a Washington sweater.
Holtby did not speak with media during his time here, but sophomore Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was asked about his relationship with Holtby after the game.
"He's been unbelievable for me," says Oettinger. "First of all, he's just a great guy. So to see him get that type of ovation is obviously very well deserved. I kind of got emotional; I can't imagine meaning that much to a fan base. Obviously he got it done here, so he's a legend and he got the ovation he deserved. I just can't say enough good things about how good he's been to me. There's a reason you only hear great things about him, and we're going be friends for a really long time even after hockey, so I'm really happy for him."
By The Numbers - John Carslon led the Caps with 25:55 in ice time … Evgeny Kuznetsov led the Caps with six shots on net, and Kuznetsov and Carlson shared the team lead with 10 shot attempts each … Garnet Hathaway led Washington with seven hits … Justin Schultz led then Caps with five blocked shots.