Looking to rebound from a rare ugly loss in their previous game, the Capitals achieved that objective on Tuesday night in Dallas against the Stars. But the Caps weren’t able to bounce back with a victory despite a strong team performance and another excellent night in net from Logan Thompson, and their three-game road winning streak was halted in a 1-0 loss to the Stars.
Jake Oettinger stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn his second career shutout over the Caps, and he improves to 6-0-0 in his career against Washington. Stars center Tyler Seguin gave Oettinger all the offense he would require, scoring on a power play in the first minute of the middle period.
“It was a good game,” says Thompson. “It’s a good team over there. [I have] a lot of respect for Dallas and a lot of respect for Oettinger. Overall, just a back-and-forth game, and just didn’t get a bounce tonight, and that’s sometimes just how it goes.”
Thompson made 18 saves and delivered a seventh straight start with two or fewer goals against.
“I think a lot of what we did out there for majority of the game, especially the second and third period, I thought we did a lot of good things,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “[We] controlled play, had majority of the looks, just didn’t convert on them tonight. So, you can’t be upset or disappointed with the process; the process was good tonight. We just weren’t able to finish.”
They weren’t able to finish, but it wasn’t for lack of effort or chances. Several opportunities just missed wide. Hendrix Lapierre hit a crossbar midway though the second. Aliaksei Protas rang iron twice, including a crossbar while Washington was shorthanded in the third period. P-L Dubois hit a post in the third.
Washington’s 5-on-5 game was typically strong; from early in the second period to early in the third, the Caps held the Stars without a shot on goal for more than 21 minutes.
The Capitals took four minor penalties in the game, including three in the offensive zone. With Tom Wilson in the box early in the second period – the lone defensive zone penalty Washington took in the game – Seguin stuck for the game’s only goal at the 43-second mark.
Stationed at the bottom of the left circle, Seguin tried to zip a seam pass to Jason Robertson on the weak side at the back post. Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary read the play and got a stick on the feed, but he inadvertently redirected it past Thompson for the lone goal of the game.
Lapierre and linemates Anthony Beauvillier and Ethen Frank saw limited ice in the first period because six minutes of the frame was played with special teams. But as the game wore on, that unit helped swing the possession needle in Washington’s favor and it saw a little more action as the night progressed.
“I felt good,” says Lapierre. “I thought we had a good line, good game overall. Whenever we were out there, I felt like we spent a lot of the time in the [offensive] zone making plays. [We were a] couple inches away on a lot of shots, hit a post and couple loose pucks where maybe it hits a pad or something.
“So, I feel like we did a good job being dominant in our shifts and using our speed to our advantage.”
Frank left the game late, with just under two minutes remaining, when he took a heavy reverse hit from Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen. Because he departed so late in the contest, there was no word as to Frank’s status after the game.
Although the Caps have been limited to just one goal – from blueliner Trevor van Riemsdyk in Saturday’s home ice loss to Ottawa – in their last two games, their offensive process was much improved in Tuesday’s game in Dallas, particularly in the game’s final 40 minutes.
“I think so,” says Caps center Nic Dowd. “That’s a good defending team, right? And that’s a that’s a high-quality goalie. You could argue that we that we beat him a couple times and we hit the post, but they played well, too.
“It was a low shot game. They score on the power play, which is pretty typical of these types of games. Both teams played good defense, [got] great goaltending, and it was honestly a fortunate bounce. Could have gone either way tonight; I thought we played well enough to win.”
Dallas won its third game in four nights on Tuesday, winning each by the margin of a single goal.
“I think today our defense did a great job of clearing anything around their net, second chances,” says Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “They’re the best in the league – in my opinion – at putting big bodies around the net; you saw the size of their team. They do it to everyone and I thought our [defense] did a really good job of letting [Oettinger] see the first one and then getting rid of the second for him. For me it was a team effort.”