Stars start with defense, shut down Capitals to stop slide

WASHINGTON – After winning so much through the first half of their season, the Dallas Stars had suddenly lost their way.

Six consecutive defeats led to a meeting and recommitment to the defensive structure they believe is the foundation of their success. The result was a suffocating 4-1 victory against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday that ended their 0-3-3 slide.

“We’ve won a lot of hockey games, and we know how to play,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We got a little bit away from our identity. We’re much better when we’re stingy and we were stingy tonight.”

Focused on preventing goals and limiting chances after giving up 25 goals in its previous six games, Dallas limited Washington to 11 shots and 27 shot attempts in building a 2-0 lead through the first two periods. It wasn’t until after Wyatt Johnston’s goal that increased the Stars’ lead to 3-0 at 13:31 of the third period that they relaxed a little and Alex Ovechkin broke up goalie Casey DeSmith’s shutout bid with a 6-on-5 goal with 2:19 remaining.

The Stars and DeSmith, who finished with 23 saves, still had plenty to be happy about, though, before heading off to the next stop on their road trip against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; Victory+, NBCSCA).

“Obviously, limited chances, limited shot volume,” DeSmith said. “I thought we were really good on breakouts, something we’ve been struggling with a little bit, and we just defended hard.”

Looking at the bigger picture, the Stars (26-10-8) seem to have little to worry about. The Colorado Avalanche (31-4-7, 69 points) are the only team in the NHL with more than their 60 points and it appears they’ll be one of the top contenders when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in a little over three months.

But it felt like a long time to the Stars since their last victory – a 5-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 21. Dallas allowed at least four goals in each of its previous six games with the only exception being a 4-3 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 27.

The Stars had enough after a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in which they were trailing 5-1 when goalie Jake Oettinger was pulled in the second period. That led to a meeting on Wednesday morning and reminders that, though they entered the day ranked third in the NHL in scoring 3.40 goals per game, their success begins with defense.

“You need to defend your way out,” Gulutzan said following their morning meeting. “You’re not going to score your way out of this.”

In addition to team defense, Dallas wanted to focus on discipline after taking 14 minor penalties in their previous three games. The Stars got off to a rocky start in that area when defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin was called for holding 2:44 into the first period, giving the Capitals the first power play of the game.

That turned into a positive, though, when Radek Faksa scored a short-handed goal at 3:06 to give Dallas a 1-0 lead. Capitals goalie Logan Thompson stopped Faksa’s initial shot from the right circle, but he left a rebound in front that Faksa knocked in for just his second goal of the season.

“That’s one of the things we’re trying to clean up, but things happen and we responded well,” Stars forward Sam Steel said. “Obviously, ‘Faksie’ with a huge goal and that kind of gave us a lot of momentum and we just built on it.”

DeSmith faced six shots in the first period and five shots in the second. None of those was on a rebound or second opportunity during the same possession. Whenever it appeared the Capitals were on the verge of creating a chance off the rush, the Stars thwarted it by intercepting a pass and quickly breaking the puck out of their end.

“They do a good job of protecting the middle of the rink,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “They’ll give you entries, they’ll give you opportunities, but they do a real good job of not letting you get to the dangerous areas.”

Steel increased the Stars’ lead to 2-0 by going to the net to redirect in a centering feed from Thomas Harley at 2:37 of the second period. After Johnston knocked in Steel’s centering pass from behind the net to make it 3-0, the only question remaining for Dallas was whether DeSmith would get a shutout.

Ovechkin broke that up with a one-timer from above the left circle. DeSmith didn’t seem to mind that too much, joking, “He scores on me all the time, so nothing new.”

DeSmith still gave the Stars exactly what they needed even with Ovechkin increasing his NHL record total with his 915th career goal, and sixth in nine games against him. The 34-year-old backup improved to 11-2-0 with a 1.70 goals-against average and .942 save percentage in the second game of a back-to-backs during his two seasons with Dallas, according to NHL Stats.

“I thought we did a really good job of limiting chances,” Gulutzan said. “But when they did get chances, he just looked so steady and that gives your bench something.”

That helped the Stars get back to feeling like themselves again. Maybe by the end of the season, their six-game slide will feel like a small blip, but it was enough to create a sense of urgency before they took the ice Wednesday.

“This league, it’s like day-by-day, week-by-week,” Steel said. “It’s tough to sit back and look at the big picture and when you lose six in a row, it kind of feels like everything is crumbling a little bit, but we were in a good frame of mind. It’s just one. We’ve still got work to do to kind of make up for those (losses), but we did a good job tonight. That’s all we can do.”