Capitals Rally, Fall To Stars, 5-4 (OT), Heading Into The All-Star Break; Rasmus Sandin, Alex Ovechkin Score


Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Dallas Stars, 5-4, in overtime at American Airlines Center on Saturday in the final game of their four-game road trip heading into the all-star break. The Capitals have lost four straight games in regulation for the first time this season and have now lost five straight on the road. Charlie Lindgren did everything humanly possible to keep the Capitals in the game, but he did not get much help in front of him. He finished the afternoon with 30 saves. Here is how it went down.

LINES AND PAIRINGS

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Max Pacioretty
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson – Nick Jensen

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratches: Right-wing Matthew Phillips and defensemen Alex Alexeyev and Ethan Bear

Injuries: Left-wing Sonny Milano (upper body) and center Nicklas Backstrom (hip)

PERIOD 1

Anthony Mantha gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead on a snipe from the high slot. Evgeny Kuznetsov brought the puck into the attacking zone and had his shot blocked by a Dallas defender, but Mantha followed up on the play and blew it past Jake Oettinger at 9:40. It was Mantha’s 15th of the campaign and third goal in the last three games. 

Sixty-eight seconds later, however, the Stars found themselves in a 4-on-2, odd-man rush, and Wyatt Johnston knotted things up at one a piece. Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen had the apples at 10:48.

After the TV timeout, Thomas Harley gave Dallas a 2-1 lead on a seeing-eye shot from the point. Jamie Benn and Sam Steel had the assists at 11:07. 

The Stars outshot the Capitals 11-7 in the first twenty minutes.

PERIOD 2

After being snakebit against the Colorado Avalanche and for pretty much the entire season, Rasmus Sandin finally got on the scoresheet, tying the game at two. It was a long-range snapshot from the blue line, beating Oettinger to the glove side. Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Trevor van Riemsdyk had the assists at 6:24 of the second. It was also Sandin’s third career goal against Oettinger.

Dallas was put on its second power play of the game, and this time, the Stars capitalized. In front of the cage, Mason Marchment made it 3-2 for the black and green on a tic-tac-toe sequence. Tyler Seguin and Heiskanen had the assists at 11:00.

Lindgren made several huge saves at the end of the period to keep it a one-goal game. The Stars outshot the Capitals 15-6 in the middle frame.

PERIOD 3

Just 2:24 into the final stanza, Matt Duchene was left alone in front of Lindgren and whistled a shot past the Capitals netminder to make it 4-2 Dallas. Marchment had the lone helper on the play.

The Capitals announced around the 10:30 mark that Max Pacioretty would not return to the game due to a lower-body injury. It is unclear what happened or when; however, the injury is unrelated to his Achilles.

Washington had a late power play with the extra attacker, and Alex Ovechkin made it a one-goal game with a slapshot from the point with two minutes to go in regulation. 

Dylan Strome tied the game with 43 seconds to go in regulation. The play was initially blown dead due to the whistle blowing before the puck came free of Oettinger. However, the call on the ice was confirmed, and the Capitals earned themselves a much-needed point. 

Washington outshot the Stars 13-9 in the final frame.

OVERTIME

Stars’ Harley ended matters on the counterattack. Jason Robertson and Duchene had the helpers at 3:26.

Up Next

The Capitals won’t be back in action until Tuesday, February 6th, when they take on the Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena (7 PM EST Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market.)

By Jacob Cheris

About Della Young

Della Young is an aspiring novelist and screenwriter who earned a BFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University in 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Screenwriting from Regent University and is writing her debut novel. Della comes from a family of big Capitals fans and became inspired to start writing for hockey in 2019. Follow Della on X: @dellayoung





Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR