The Washington Capitals continued on their month ending road trip with a 0-2 loss against the Dallas Stars. A combination of bad luck, at least one miscue and a late developing sense of urgency doomed them to their third loss of the season.
The game began with both teams trading chances at a less than frenetic pace as the Stars were able to establish their stifling defensive game early. Jason Robertson would stake the Stars to the lead at 16:50 deftly tipping in a wobbling shot by Nils Lundqvist past Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper. Dallas would end up with finishing the period with a 13-7 shot advantage.
The Capitals fared no better in the next period as they continued to fail to establish any meaningful possession time in the offensive zone. While the Caps were slightly lacking in urgency they were not without any close calls as Alex Ovechkin would hit the crossbar twice and Lars Eller would hit the post as well.
The final period featured the game’s worst moment. With the Capitals on the power play, John Carlson retrieved the puck behind his own net after a clear. As Carlson attempted to exit the zone, Evgeny Kuznetsov inadvertently impeded the path of the puck. This would allow Stars winger Joel Kiviranta to steal the puck, giving him a breakaway chance on net which he easily put past Kuemper at 10:54.
Allowing the shorthanded goal would light the needed fire on the Capitals bench as they would play increasingly desperate hockey for the rest of the game. Unfortunately it would prove to be not enough as the Stars’ Jake Oettinger would stop all of Washington’s 12 shots for the period. Both teams with finish with 27 shots on goal each. The shutout is Oettinger’s third for his career.
Washington continues its road trip next against the Nashville Predators, start time is 8 PM ET.
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