Stars at Capitals
The defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals look to rebound from a dispiriting loss last time out and pay more attention to details when they host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. The Capitals coughed up three unanswered goals - two in an NHL-record two-second span - in the third period to fall 6-4 at Montreal on Thursday, and own three victories in the last eight contests after a solid start to the season.
“We’re in control of the game, and then we mismanage the puck four times in the last seven, eight minutes,” Washington coach Todd Reirden told reporters after Thursday’s win. “We just give them transition offense. We’ve got to continue to learn, and we’re learning some lessons the hard way right now.” The Capitals are 3-1-1 at home and play the next five at Capital One Arena while the Stars have won two of the first three on their six-game road trip. Dallas got big efforts from goalies Ben Bishop on Tuesday in Montreal (4-1 win) and backup Anton Khudobin on Thursday to beat Toronto 2-1 for its first two road wins of the season after losing three straight and going 16-20-5 away from home in 2017-18. “We’re seeing what it’s like to win on the road again, and it’s fun,” Stars center Tyler Seguin told reporters after setting up both goals. “So we want to keep it going.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Dallas), NBCS Washington
ABOUT THE STARS (7-5-0): Seguin leads the team with 14 points, but has not recorded a goal in the last nine games, while defenseman John Klingberg (12) scored once and set up five others in the past five contests. Forward Devin Shore scored one of the goals Thursday and has contributed eight points in his last six outings to give Dallas some extra secondary scoring. “He’s just a smart hockey player,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery told reporters of Shore. “I like the way he possesses pucks and the poise he has with the puck. He’s starting to get a lot of confidence and with that he’s skating harder and winning more 1-on-1 battles.”
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (5-4-2): Captain Alex Ovechkin boasts four goals in the last four games to reach a team-high 10 and shares the lead with center Evgeny Kuznetsov at 16 points while defenseman John Carlson is next with 14. T.J. Oshie is second to Ovechkin in goals with six - four in the first three games of the season - and center Nicklas Backstrom has 11 assists to tie Kuznetsov for first on the team, but no points in the last three contests. Washington is 1-for-5 on the power play in the last three games and leads the league at 36.1 percent while the Capitals have struggled in the penalty kill, sitting 24th in the league entering Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Stars RW Alexander Radulov (11 points, seven games) has missed five of the last six contests and is questionable with a lower-body injury.
2. Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower body) missed Thursday’s contest and is not expected to be on the ice against the Stars.
3. Dallas placed D Connor Carrick (foot) on injured reserve and recalled D Dillon Heatherington.