The Washington Capitals will look to head into the all-star break on a high note, when they take on the Dallas Stars in the lone star state (2 p.m. EST, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market). The Capitals are currently on a three-game losing skid, along with dropping four straight on the road, most recently falling 6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche. It is also the first time this season that Washington has lost three straight in regulation.
Yet the Caps still find themselves very much in the fight for the second Wild Card spot.
“It’s a very significant game for our group,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said following Friday’s practice. “We need to find a way to have a real strong performance tomorrow afternoon to close out the road trip.”
The Capitals have allowed two short-handed goals over the last three games, each from Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, and St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko. Special teams have struggled mightily during this road trip, with the power play going 1-for-12 and the penalty kill going 5-for-8. The Avalanche scored twice on the man-advantage against the Caps.
Makar’s short-handed tally late in the first period took the life out of the Capitals for the rest of the game. Washington played one of the best 20 minutes of the season and controlled play, but once again failed to turn the red light on. All it took was one turnover in the neutral zone for Makar to capitalize.
“I think the start is important, but we need to sustain it,” Carbery said. “We can’t crack and we can’t have these instances where all of a sudden we’re playing real well and things look good. And now all of a sudden [there’s a] turnover, two-on-one, back of the net.”
Washington has been lacking a lot of offense from its veteran players during this recent skid. Even though guys like T.J. Oshie and Max Pacioretty have been very productive as of late, Alex Ovechkin has not scored in eight straight games; Tom Wilson only has three points in his last 11 games and Evgeny Kuznetsov has two points in his last 10 games.
“We need them desperately and not just from a standpoint of setting the tone and delivering messages and making sure that the locker room and the things that are being said and talked about and the overall demeanor, energy, all that stuff is at a high level, we need them on the ice,” Carbery said. “We need them to be the best four, five, six players on the ice tomorrow night for both teams.”
Saturday’s matinee matchup will be the second meeting between the Stars and Caps, with Dallas taking the first contest 5-4 in a shootout back at Capital One Arena. A game in which Washington had leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3.
“Dallas to me is three lines deep of guys that try to attack middle ice, can delay off entries, find trailers and so you’re dealing with the [Jason] Robertson’s, the [Roope] Hintz’s, the Wyatt Johntson’s,” Carbery said. “But now you’re also going two lines deeper than that are really good.”
Scouting Dallas
The Stars (29-13-6) are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. They are third in the Central Division with 64 points and have won two straight coming into Saturday’s matchup.
Dallas has the third best offense in the league, scoring 3.67 goals per game. However, the Stars are 14th in the NHL allowing 3.04 goals per game. The good news is that Miro Heiskanen returned to the lineup against Anaheim. He had missed the last 10 games due to a lower-body injury. The Finnish defenseman has 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 38 games.
Goaltender Jake Oettinger comes into the afternoon winning four out of his last five games, three of four where he started, and is 15-9-1 on the campaign.
Player To Watch
Defenseman Thomas Harley has five assists in his last five games. Harley also has four points (one goal, three assists) in his last two contests.
By Jacob Cheris
