Washington Capitals fall short to Stars in overtime

For the second consecutive season, the Washington Capitals fell in overtime to the Dallas Stars on home ice.

In Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s return, the Washington Capitals fought hard but once again came up short to the Dallas Stars 4-3 after Tyler Seguin scored the game-winner in overtime.

The Capitals dominated the first period and took the early lead thanks to Kuznetsov at 4:49. Jonas Siegenthaler found Kuznetsov cross-ice.

Kuznetsov backhanded the puck in then humbly went to to thank him. A big difference from a bird celly but a scoring touch gladly welcomed back by Caps fans everywhere. The Capitals outshot the Stars 14-5 in the opening period and took that 1-0 lead to the break.

The Stars tied it in the second period just 1:59 in on a breakaway goal from Roope Hintz. The Capitals weren’t phased in the slightest and kept their composure.

Later in the period at 15:55 John Carlson sniped home a shot to retake the lead. The second period once again ended with the Caps holding the Stars to five shots while launching 13 of their own.

The Stars came out firing in the third period and scored twice to take their first lead of the night. Alexander Radulov tied it at 7:53 and the Stars took the lead at 12:03 with a goal from Nick Caamano.

The Capitals forced overtime tying the game at three at 19:29 or 30.7 seconds left. With the net empty for the extra attacker, With three skaters hovering around the net, the loose puck came to Tom Wilson, who then slightly tapped it to Nicklas Backstrom.

Backstrom was right next to Wilson in front of the net and he had the better look to bang it in to force overtime. For the second straight game at Capital One Arena this season, a game was once again heading into the extra session.

Once again, however, the opposition quickly ended it. This time it was Tyler Seguin 43 seconds in to give the Capitals their second straight loss.

The Capitals outshot the Stars 32-26 and had the edge on the face-off dot 54%-46%. It was a frustrating night for both power play units as neither one could find the back of the net. The Capitals killed all four penalties but couldn’t score in any of their five power play attempts. Braden Holtby stopped 22-of-26 shots for a .846 save percentage.

The Capitals will head on a two-game road trip to round out the week. Before they meet the Stars again, Washington will head to Nashville on Thursday night to take on the Predators.