Stars Outshine Capitals, 3-2; Alex Ovechkin Notches 40th Goal Of The Season

Posted on March 20, 2022 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: John McCreary/NHL via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Dallas Stars, 3-2, Sunday night at Capital One Arena. The loss drops the Capitals record to 35-19-10 (80 points) on the season.

SUMMARY

The Stars struck first less than three minutes into the game and added a late tally for a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals on the board with a power play goal early in the middle frame, but the Stars would answer with a power play goal of their own moments later for a 3-1 lead at the second intermission.

The Capitals closed the gap to 3-2 early in the final frame on a blast by Dmitry Orlov, but the Capitals were unable to tie it up. Stars held on for the 3-2 win.

STATS

STARTERS

Vitek Vanecek (16-7-0-5, 2.35 GAA, .919 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the  Capitals. Jake Oettinger (20-10-0-1, 2.49 GAA, .916 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Stars. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

FIRST PERIOD

The Stars opened the scoring with a tally from Alexander Radulov (4) just 2:17 into the contest. Esa Lindell (18) and Marian Studenic (1) had the helpers.

The Stars would stretch the lead to 2-0 with a goal from Roope Hintz (24) at 17:55 of the first period. Jason Robertson (26) and Joe Pavelski (38) had the assists.

The first frame ended with the Stars leading 2-0. Stars led in shot attempts 20-12, scoring chances 15-7, high-danger chances 6-2 and expected goals 1.33 to .44.

SECOND PERIOD

The Capitals got the board early in the second period with a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin (40) at 4:53 of the period. John Carlson (41) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (41) had the assists.

But the Stars would reinstate their two-goal lead with a power play goal of their own just moments later. Roope Hintz (25) would dent the twine at 10:38 for his second tally of the game. Joe Pavelski (39) and Tyler Seguin (17) had the helpers.

The Stars led in shot attempts 24-20, scoring chances 12-6, high-danger chances 4-2 and expected goals .83 to .80.

THIRD PERIOD

The Capitals closed the gap to 3-2 on a blast by Dmitry Orlov (10) at 8:56 of the final frame. Tom Wilson (24) and Nick Jensen (14) had the assists.

That would be the final.

The Capitals outshot the Stars 17-3, led in scoring chances, 10-2, high-danger chances 3-1 and expected goals 1.04 to .22.

The Capitals are back in action on Tuesday when they host the St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM.

SHAVINGS

  • Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps their first goal of the game with his 40th goal of the season. With his 12th career 40-goal season, Ovechkin has tied Wayne Gretzky for the most such instances in NHL history.
  • That marks Ovechkin’s first career goal against goaltender Jake Oettinger, the 156th different goalie Ovechkin has scored on in his career. There have been 6,701 skaters in NHL history with 156 or fewer goals in their career.
  • John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov each picked up the assists on Ovechkin’s goal. Kuznetsov is now two assists shy of passing Scott Stevens (331) for 10th on the franchise assists list.
  • Dmitry Orlov cut the Stars lead to 3-2 with his 10th goal of the season. That ties his career high set in 2017-18.

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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4 Responses to Stars Outshine Capitals, 3-2; Alex Ovechkin Notches 40th Goal Of The Season

  1. Anonymous says:
    March 20, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    Home woes continue. 🙄

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    March 20, 2022 at 8:55 pm

    Once again great D played by Kuzy on the first goal. Stand by a let him tap it in. Every game same thing. Lazy on him but the stupid system that has him down low and the dmen away from the paint. Groundhog Day.

    Reply
  3. Marky says:
    March 21, 2022 at 9:20 am

    Whatever the final standings, I really hope they only have away series because home is not where the heart is…

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says:
    March 21, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    We might be better off playing 4 of 7 games on the road.

    Reply

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