Game Day Guide: Stars at Capitals

When: Wednesday, January 7 at 6:00 p.m.

Where: Capital One Arena

TV: TNT, HBO Max, Victory+

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Live Stats: NHL Game Center

Watch Party: Stoneleigh P

Five Points 5️⃣

• The Dallas Stars face the Washington Capitals Wednesday night for the second and final time this season. In their first matchup this season on Oct. 28, 2025, Dallas defeated Washington in a 1-0 shutout win at American Airlines Center.
• Dallas is 59-31-20 all-time vs. Washington, including a 28-18-8 mark on the road.
• The Stars have earned wins in seven of their last eight games played against the Capitals, upholding a 7-1-0 record dating back to March 20, 2022, outscoring Washington 22-15 during that span. Dallas has also won five of their last six games played vs. Washington at Capital One Arena.
• Forward Roope Hintz enters Wednesday’s contest riding a seven-game point streak against the Capitals, earning 10 points (6-4—10) during that span. Hintz has 12 points (7-5—12) in 11 career games vs. Washington, averaging 1.09 points per game. He has collected points in all but two games played against them.
• Forward Mikko Rantanen enters Wednesday's matchup having tallied nine points (3-6—9) in his last five games against the Capitals. In all, Rantanen has totaled 21 points (9-12—21) in 16 career games vs. Washington. His 1.31 points per game against them is the sixth-best mark among active NHL skaters who have played Washington at least five times in their career.

Players To Watch 👀

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen has seven points (0-7—7) in his last eight games played. In all, Heiskanen has totaled 36 points (7-29—36) in 42 games played this season, ranking fourth on the Stars and fifth among all NHL defensemen in scoring this season entering play Tuesday. He’s on pace to finish the year with 70 points, which would be three points shy of matching his career high. Heiskanen is averaging 26:01 of ice time per game this season, which was the third-highest total in the NHL entering play Tuesday. He also has recorded 28 takeaways this season, which was tied for the third-most in the NHL entering play Tuesday. In his career against Washington, Heiskanen has collected five points (0-5—5) in 11 games played. His 25:09 time on ice per game against the Capitals ranks sixth among all active NHL skaters.

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has registered 36 points (17-19—36) through 43 games played this season, including putting up two goals in Washington's last matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 5. His 36 points rank second on the team in scoring this season. Ovechkin is also tied for the team-lead in both power-play scoring (2-7—9) and game-winning goals (4) while ranking second in goals (17) and shots taken (115). In his career against Dallas, Ovechkin has recorded 21 points (12-9—21) in 28 games. He enters Wednesday's contest having seven points (2-5—7) in his last seven games played vs. Dallas at Capital One Arena.

First Shift 🏒

Radek Faksa has had an interesting year.

The veteran forward was traded to St. Louis in the summer of 2024, leaving the Stars for the first time in his career. However, when given a chance to sign anywhere as a free agent this past summer, he chose to come back to Dallas, inking a three-year deal at $2 million per season.

“It seems like I never left,” Faksa said recently.

Mix into that the fact he was named to the Czechia Olympic team on Tuesday, and there is a lot going on for the 31-year-old center.

“It’s a big deal,” Faksa said.

This is the ninth time for Faksa to wear the colors of his home country, but the first time in the Olympics. He said he expects his family will be able to attend, and that’s a big part of the excitement. Faksa and his wife Dominika have two children, and he hopes that both they and his parents will be able to attend in February in Italy.

“That will be fun,” he said.

It already has been for the Faksa family in moving back to Texas. After being drafted 13th overall by Dallas in 2012, Faksa played nine seasons and was a big part of the Stars community. So after a short stint in St. Louis, it was huge to get back.

“For sure, we wanted to be here,” he said. “I was so excited when the opportunity came, and then to come into this team has been fantastic.”

Faksa already has 15 points (1 goal, 14 assists) in 42 games. That matches the scoring he had for the Blues in 70 games last season. He also has been a big part of a Dallas team that is winning games.

“He’s really underrated,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “He’s a big body, he wins a lot of battles. He’s great on the penalty kill and on faceoffs, and he helps us in a lot of different areas. We love his game.”

Faksa loves the Stars, too. He has been a big part of the careers of several players, including Benn, Seguin, Esa Lindell and Hintz. He also has been a big part of the penalty kill under assistant coach Alain Nasreddine.

“It just feels really good here,” he said.

Faksa hopes to compete for the Stanley Cup later in the season, but right now he’s looking forward to chasing Olympic Gold. While much of the focus on international play is Canada vs. The United States, the recent World Juniors featured Sweden beating Czechia, 4-2.

“We have good players in Czech Republic, and I think we can compete with any team,” Faksa said. “We have to perform as best as possible.”

Key Numbers 🔢

15.6 percent

Washington ranks 31st in power play success at 15.6 percent. Dallas ranks seventh in penalty kill success at 82.1 percent.

508

Washington has taken 508 snapshots, second most in the league. Dallas is fourth at 447.

29

Washington has scored first in 29 games, most in the NHL. They are 19-6-4 when scoring first, the 18th best points percentage in the league.

He Said It 📢

“Really, we want that triangle so we can deflect things to the outside a little bit so guys aren’t walking down main street and being able to wire one…then in-zone, making sure we’re getting into man-on-man, once it’s sorted out. We were just allowing them to come in, and we were three-flat almost, at times.”

-Stars coach Glen Gulutzan on how he wants his team to play in the 3-on-3 overtime

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.