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Heading into their Saturday night tilt against the Dallas Stars, the Capitals had a lot riding on their shoulders, having come off three straight losses and the fact that the team had not won a game against Dallas in the Lone Star State in regulation since 1995. However through two periods of play, the visitors have the home team on their toes with a 2-0 lead and an excellent penalty kill showing through 40 minutes.
Heading into tonight’s game, the Caps’ penalty kill had killed 12 of 15 power plays against (80%), which ranked 14th in the league. Through two periods of play, the Capitals have killed all six of the Stars’ power play opportunities allowing just a combined four shots, while converting on two of the three chances they themselves had been gifted in the game.
The Capitals’ lead came courtesy of goals by Tom Wilson (his second of the season) and John Carlson, who continues his red-hot start to the 2019-20 campaign. Wilson’s goal came on assists by Jakub Vrana and Brendan Leipsic, and Carlson’s goal came on assists by Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd, who is back in the lineup after missing the team’s last game against the Nashville Predators:
WHIPS it past Dobby! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/HPN0BvvVr8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 13, 2019
THE JUMPING KEEP AND SNIPE! @JohnCarlson74 pic.twitter.com/zTIKDPCKqF
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 13, 2019
After struggling through the first five games of the season, the Caps have made use of their man-advantages in the game. Through two periods, the Caps led the Stars in shots 18-17, power play conversion (33% to 0%), Blocked Shots (19-8), Faceoff Win Percentage (64%-36%), and were behind in hits by one (14-13). In net, rookie netminder Ilya Samsonov stopped all 17 shots faced in his second career start and game.
paddled 🛶 pic.twitter.com/Gzd3KsifNK
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 13, 2019
By Michael Fleetwood
