Stars defeat Capitals to end losing streak at 6

WASHINGTON -- Sam Steel had a goal and assist to help the Dallas Stars end a six-game losing streak with a 4-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Radek Faksa, Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz also scored for the Stars (26-10-8), who were 0-3-3 in their previous six, including a 6-3 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Casey DeSmith made 23 saves.

“Yeah, we got back to our identity here a little bit,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “It’s taken us a while since after Christmas to kind of find our footing and who we are. We were giving up too many goals. You know, four, four, four, four, four and six and it’s hard to win. This is a race to three really and one (against) tonight at the end was good. I thought we were solid.”

Alex Ovechkin scored his third goal in two games for the Capitals (22-16-6), who have lost three of four (1-2-1). Logan Thompson made 32 saves.

“I think we made lots of mistakes in the neutral zone,” said Ovechkin, the Washington captain. “If we put [the] puck in their zone, then we’re not forechecking hard and I don’t think we have lots of support.”

Faksa gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 3:06 of the first period. Thompson made the save on Faksa’s shot from the right circle on the rush but couldn’t control the puck in front of the crease, and Faksa knocked it in.

“That’s not the start we’re looking for,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “I thought we were fine in the first. We weren’t doing much but it was fine. It was tight. But getting down to start the game is not the best recipe for success. You’re fighting an uphill battle against a real good defensive team.”

Steel made it 2-0 at 2:37 of the second period when he scored at the right post, chipping in a pass across the crease from Thomas Harley during 4-on-4 play.

“I knew [Matt Duchene] was kind of alone,” Steel said. “He made a great pull-up, hit Tom and I was just trying to give something for Tom to shoot it off of and he put it right on my tape.”

Johnston increased the lead to 3-0 at 13:31 of the third period. He scored from in front off a pass by Steel from behind the goal line after Steel won the puck against Matt Roy along the end boards.

Ovechkin ended DeSmith’s shutout bid and pulled Washington within 3-1 at 17:41, scoring on a one-timer from above the left circle with Thompson pulled for the extra attacker.

“He scores on me all the time,” DeSmith said after allowing his sixth goal to Ovechkin in nine games. “So, nothing new.”

Hintz scored into an empty net at 19:41 for the 4-1 final.

“Everybody played hard, did the right things, got pucks in deep, especially in the third period when we’re trying to close out a lead,” DeSmith said. “So, I thought top to bottom, first, second and third, we were really good.”

NOTES: The Stars swept the two-game season series (including a 1-0 win Oct. 28 in Dallas) and are 8-1-0 in their past nine games against the Capitals. … Duchene had the secondary assist on Steel’s goal, giving him 900 points (374 goals, 526 assists) in 1,157 NHL games. … Hintz has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in an eight-game point streak against Washington. He had a game-high 12 shots on goal. … Thompson has lost six of his past seven starts (1-5-1).