The Dallas Stars lugged a six-game losing streak (0-3-3) into town in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, but they got right on Wednesday night against the Capitals at Capital One Arena. The Caps fell 4-1 to the Stars in the finale of a three-game homestand in which Washington forged a pedestrian 1-1-1 mark.
Despite playing and losing 6-2 in Carolina the night before, the Stars did not lack for energy, and the Caps weren’t able to sap any of that energy with extended offensive zone shifts.
Dallas’ six-game skid did not impair their place in the overall NHL pecking order; the Stars were the second-best team in the circuit when the slide started, and they entered Wednesday’s game in the same position. The difference was tonight, they looked like one of the best teams in the NHL, especially defensively.
“As a team, they do a good job of protecting the middle of the rink,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “They'll give you entries. They'll give you opportunities there in their zone, but they do a real good job of not letting you get to the dangerous area. So, a lot of what you get is on the perimeter, and they've got a lot of really big, long, strong players, not just in their [defense] corps, but up front as well, that make it really difficult; [they] close quick, [and have] good sticks.
“So, it's sort of what you felt from our group. It was a real struggle for us with the puck. Everything getting ticked on it, [or] blocked. We try to make a play, it hits a guy’s skate or stick. You look at those situations and you think, ‘The guy’s got to make a better play,’ but also they're great defensively, so that's where they make it challenging on you.
The Caps went on an early power play in Wednesday’s game, but the result was far south of optimal. Thirty-two seconds into the man advantage, they fell behind 1-0 when Radek Faksa victimized them for a shorthanded goal.
The Caps were a bit lackadaisical in moving the puck out of their own end, and Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell sent Faksa back into Washington ice on the right side. From the top of the right circle, Faksa took a shot that Logan Thompson stopped, but he did not secure. Faksa found the rebound first and deposited it for a 1-0 Dallas lead at 3:16.
“As a goalie, sometimes you make a mistake,” says Thompson. “I brought my hands up just as the puck dropped, and that’s one I can live with. You know you’re going to make mistakes, and unfortunately when you’re a goalie, those things happen.
“But I felt really good all game; I thought I rebounded well. Unfortunately, I just can’t get a win right now.”
Thompson was sturdy for the rest of the night, and he kept the Caps within striking distance with several key stops, shutting down Roope Hintz on a breakaway and making seven of his 32 stops while the lethal Dallas power play was on the ice.
With the two teams playing 4-on-4 hockey early in the second period, Dallas doubled its lead. Thomas Harley carried down the left side of the ice and put a feed to the far post where Sam Steel tipped it home to make it a 2-0 contest at 2:37.
Washington’s second period offensive output was abysmal; the Caps were credited with just five shots on net. Two of them came in the second minute of the frame – separated by a stoppage in play – and one came in the final minute. Neither of the other two came from the offensive zone; one came from neutral ice and the other was a 146-footer from the Caps’ end of the ice.
Wyatt Johnston scored with 6:29 left in the third to make it a 3-0 game, and Alex Ovechkin helped the Caps avoid the ignominy of a shutout with his 915th career goal with 2:19 remaining.
Two minutes later, a Hintz empty-netter accounted for the 4-1 final.
Early this season, the Caps dropped a 1-0 decision to the Stars in Dallas, and Thompson was the hard luck loser in that game; he yielded just a Tyler Seguin power-play goal early in the third period.
Only one of the four Dallas goals was scored at 5-on-5 tonight. But despite playing the defensively stingy Stars to a 1-1 deadlock at 5-on-5 in their two meetings this season, the Caps finish the season series pointless against Dallas again.
As Dallas endeavored to steer out of its slide, coach Glen Gulutzan challenged them to defend their way out of it.
“We did that, obviously limited chances and limited shot volume,” says Stars netminder Casey DeSmith, who raised his record to 10-2-4 on the season. “I thought we were really good on breakouts, something we’ve struggled with. We just defended really hard, everybody played hard, did the right things, got pucks in deep, especially in the third period which is how you close out a lead.
“I thought top to bottom – first, second, third – we were really good.”
