The Washington Capitals fought back but couldn’t overcome the Dallas Stars on home ice as they fell 3-2. It was a Sunday evening and a lot of kids were in attendance for Caps Youth Hockey night and they were treated to a show by both teams.
In the early going things were scary for the hosts. At 2:17 Alexander Radulov gave the Stars the lead and they doubled that at 17:55 on a power play goal from Rope Hintz. The Stars led in shots in the opening 20 11-9.
The Caps outshot the Stars in the second period 15-10 as they rallied back. Alex Ovechkin scored his 40th of the season on a laser from the office on the power play. John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov had the assists.
The Stars would answer with Hinz’s 25th of the season, also n the power play. The Caps led in shots 15-9 in the second period.
In the third the Caps pulled within one with a blast from Dmitry Orlov for his 10th goal of the season off a feed from Tom Wilson. That was as close as they’d get as they fell 3-2 despite fighting all the way to the end. The Caps outshot the Stars 14-2 in the third period and 38-23 overall. Vitek Vanecek made 20 stops.
Jamie Benn had a dirty hit on Carlson but he did not receive any discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety. The loss ended an eight game point streak for the Caps. Can’t win every game.
Capitals Head Coach Peter Laviolette told the media:
"“It’s a long year and I think there’s always a pocket where you’re good, always a pocket where you’re bad, always a pocket where you’re playing well and don’t get the wins or you’re not playing well and getting the wins.”"
Now all the focus is across the National Hockey League world as the trade deadline is today.