The Washington Capitals not only defeated the Dallas Stars, they snapped a losing streak in the process.
The Washington Capitals ended their three-game losing streak with a 4-1 win in Dallas over the Stars, getting payback from a loss to the same team earlier in the week.
The Stars, meanwhile, dropped their fifth in their first six games after winning their first of the season against these Caps. So these guys split the season series this year at a game apiece and if they both go deep we could see these two talented clubs play again in June.
The Capitals won this contest with both a complete game and defense. The power play also came through once again while the penalty kill brushed away all six penalties they faced.
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The Caps got a power play early when Joel Hanley went to the box for high sticking Jonas Siegenthaler 52 seconds into the contest. From there, the Capitals scored on the man advantage at 3:17 when Tom Wilson rebounded in a shot from Jakub Vrana off a zig-zag cross-ice pass from Brendan Leipsic.
The Caps doubled their lead in the second period at 7:13 when John Carlson finished a give-n-go with Garnet Hathaway for his second goal of the season. Nic Dowd was also credited with an assist.
The Caps added to their lead in the third at 3:35 with Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s second goal of the season. Nicklas Backstrom placed a perfect pass and Kuznetsov used his speed to break from the defense for a backhanded snipe. Carlson was credited with the secondary assist.
The Stars got on the board with a goal from Radek Faksa at the seven minute mark of the third period. The Stars pulled their goalie late in the third but that goal from Faksa was as close as they’d get. Alex Ovechkin notched an empty net goal for his fourth of the season.
Shots for the game finished out dead even at 25 apiece by both teams. The Capitals recorded 11 shots in the first 20 minutes while notching seven each in the final two periods. The Stars registered nine shots in the opening period and eight in each of the next two.
The penalty kill did it’s part with six kills and Ilya Samsonov had another stellar outing in between the pipes for his second NHL win. Samsonov stopped 24-of-25 shots for a .960 save percentage which included stopping 16-of-17 at even strength.
The Capitals will return home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday at 5 p.m.