Hard time with Sunday – The Caps saw their modest four-game winning streak and their eight-game scoring streak (7-0-1) – both tied for their longest of the season – fall on Sunday in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. Against a stars team that had played and lost to the Islanders in New York the day before, the Caps took too long to establish their game and roll in the first.
Despite falling 4-2 on Saturday in the game against the Islanders, the Stars felt as if they had played well enough to win this competition, and they went up where they left off. Dallas struck twice in the first period, and the Caps played the rest of the afternoon.
Dallas tested the Caps 20-12 at 5-on-5 in the first frame, an early 5-on-5 goal from Alexander Radulov and a late power-play goal from Roope Hintz in the first.
The early part of the middle frame was more of the same, though the caps were on the board with one 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 in a two-goal hole.
From the start of the second period until Hintz’s second goal, the Stars had a terrible 21-6 advantage and 5-on-5 shot attempts. The Caps were able to block nine of those 21 attempts and Dallas missed the net on five others.
“I think we should not play like that because they come in a back-to-back situation,” said Caps defender Dmitry Orlov, who scored his 10th goal of the season in the Caps within a 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 on the scoreboard.”
Asked if he thought the Caps had done enough to remind the Stars that they had played the day before, Laviolette replied:
“In the first 20 minutes, no. I thought it would be better [after]; I thought each period got better, but the period I go back and look at is the first. We were probably overwhelmed, 10-3. In the second period, I thought we were starting to come a little bit. We played a desperate team. The third period, I thought we were pushing, but like I said, you can not give two goals lead and expect you to come back and win every game if you do.
The Caps beat the Stars 14-2 in the third, but could only manage the Orlov goal, and they suffered their first regulatory loss in March (7-1-1).
With Sunday’s victory in Washington, Dallas closed the day one point from its last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“It feels great,” says Stars Goalie Jake Oettinger. “Of course we all know how important this game was to us. We have to stop and try to win the players we have in hand. To get into this building – of course, they played really well – and 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 connects him to 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 36 years or older to reach 40 in league history. Earlier, Gordie Howe (40 goals and 70 games in 1968-69) and Teemu Selanne (40 goals and 70 games in 2006-07) shared this mark.
Ovechkin is the fourth player to reach the 40-goal plateau this season, making Oettinger the first-time victim, the 156th goal-scorer Ovechkin has scored in the course of his NHL career.
You have the power – The Stars came to the district for the finals of a four-game road trip on Sunday, also completed a set of back-to-back games, and are looking for a split on the trip.
Before Sunday’s game, the Stars were 0-for-9 on the road trip in powerplay, but they reversed that statistic by hitting capital on each of their first two extra-man chances. Hintz scored the two power-play goals for the Stars, and the second was the winner of Sunday Stars.
Hintz came into the game with five power-play goals this season – third most of the team – but he has not scored an extra-man tally since January 30th.
“Of course, it’s great to get some power-play goals here because it’s a bit of a struggle,” Hintz says. “It was nice to see that we got going today, and it was nice to mark.”
The Stars’ two-goal extra-man outburst against the Caps came in the middle of a strong stretch for Washington’s penalty-murder outfit. The Caps had killed 37 of 41 (90.2 percent) penalty kills over their previous 14 games, and they had not been baptized for multiple power-play goals in the same game since February 8, when they gave up some power. Performance goals in a 5-4 loss to Columbus.
Washington’s own power play is in the middle of its best run of the season, having shot 20 times in its last 20 games with a success rate of 30.3 percent over that span. The Caps ’20 game success began against the Stars in Dallas on January 28, as they went 2-for-2 on Powerplay in a 5-0 victory.
Heartfelt Holtby Tribute – Longtime Caps Goaltender Braden Holtby is returning to the Capital One Arena for the first time since the district as an unrestricted free agent after 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 radiated a moving and emotional homage to the backbone of the team for more than a decade. Holtby received a reassuring and enduring ovation, the audience sang his name as the game resurfaced after the video.
Holtby posted a sterling 282-122-46 record in 10 seasons in the capital, and only Olie Kolzig (who was also in the house on Sunday) had more (301) in a Washington sweater.
Holtby did not speak to the media during his time here, but Sophomore Stars goalkeeper Jake Oettinger was asked after the game about his relationship with Holtby.
“He was incredible to me,” Oettinger says. “Above all, he’s just a great guy. So to see him get that kind of ovation is obviously very well deserved. I’ve somehow become emotional; I can not imagine that it means so much to a fan base. Of course. he did it here, so he’s a legend and he got the ovation he deserves. I just can not say good enough things about how good he was to me. There’s a reason you only hear great things about him, and we become friends for a very long time even after hockey, so I’m really happy for him.
By the numbers – John Carslon led the caps with 25:55 in the ice age … Evgeny Kuznetsov led the Caps with six shots on the net, and Kuznetsov and Carlson shared the team lead with 10 shot attempts each … Garnet Hathaway led Washington with seven hits … Justin Schultz then fired caps with five blocked shots.
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