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Takeaways From The Capitals 5-4 Shootout Loss To The Dallas Stars

By Jon Sorensen·
Graphic: X/@Capitals

After failing to generate any lick of offense in their 6-0 whitewash against the Arizona Coyotes, the Washington Capitals played in a high-scoring affair against the Dallas Stars. However, they came on the wrong end of the offensive onslaught, falling 5-4 in a shootout. It was another one of those nights where the Capitals did a lot of good things, but the mistakes they made ended up in the back of the net. 

“We got a lot of work to do,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said following the loss. “We make some mistakes and just constantly are just digging ourselves in. It’s our whole lineup. Like our entire lineup, top to bottom are just making massive, massive mistakes that you just can’t make at this level. If you expect to win hockey games, simply put.”

It was a back-and-forth game on the national stage, and a night that was filled with milestones. Alex Ovechkin became the 16th player in NHL history to reach 1,500 career points. He had the secondary assist on Dylan Strome’s go-ahead goal in the third, which turned out to be Strome’s 100th goal of his career, which gave the caps a 4-3 lead.

“It’s a pretty cool number. How I always say without my teammates, I would never reach it,” Ovechkin said.

Here is what stood out. 

Unable To Hold Leads; Careless Mistakes

The Capitals had leads of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3. All of those were lost because of mistakes. 

The biggest thing that hurt the Caps was the inability to contain the Stars up the rush. They are one of the best teams in the NHL at playing up the rush and on transition.

Dallas was able to capitalize when the Caps missed the net completely on the attack, and were forced to hustle back on defense. Mason Marchment’s goal to make it a 3-2 game was because Nicolas Aube-Kubel completely missed the net on the 2-on-1, and no one was back to cover John Carlson pressuring. 

Someone needs to be covering the point whenever a defenseman jumps up into the play. That is basic hockey.

“You just don’t make those mistakes when you’re trying to win games and protect leads and do those sorts of things,” Carbery said. “We got to learn from these things and our young guys have to process and understand time situation, momentum, decision making, puck play, when I need to advance a puck, when I can make a play, when I need to take a deep breath and have poise and relax and calm down and not panic.”

Carbery also added that some of the plays that the Capitals were making, were plays that a “young team” makes. Meaning a youth team learning how to play. 

The Big Pro

Aliaksei Protas continues to be an unsung hero for the Capitals. Protas had two points (one goal, one assist) on Thursday night.

The 22-year-old winger was the recipient of some puck luck on his goal, but they always say ‘good things happen when you just fire the puck on the net.’

That is exactly what Protas did, and the puck banked off of Stars forward Jamie Benn’s body and squeaked through Scott Wedgewood’s five-hole.

But his best play of the night was his assist on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s tally to make it 3-1 for the home team. He pickpocketed Dallas forward Matt Duchene and sent the puck to Matthew Phillips to send Kuznetsov in on the breakaway.

“We’re talking about the importance of the [line] changes during the second period. We knew they’re a good team off the rush. So I knew I needed to help my teammates so I needed a good backcheck,” Protas said. “It was fortunate for me I got the puck, and I moved it to [Phillips] and he made a great pass.”

The Belarusian power forward leads the Capitals with 10 five-on-five points and had his fourth multipoint game of the season.

 Top Six Breaks Through; Evgeny Kuznetsov Bounces Back

 Despite the Capitals eventually losing the game, it was good to see the big guys for this team get on the board. Strome scored two goals, the second being the 100th of his career, and Kuznetsov scored his fifth of the season after being a healthy scratch the game prior.

 “I liked his game tonight. Started off a little bit rough. He turns one over on that one entry; goes down. He duplicates on the track. They get a Grade-A in the slot. So I felt like he was trying to find it and then I thought in the second period he really turned on,” Carbery said. “I liked his pace. I thought he was skating better. Had a couple really good entries he was controlling the puck. He was way more noticeable.”

 Kuznetsov now has 10 points (five goals, five assists) on the campaign. He played 20:17 of ice time after playing a season low 15:20 against the Vegas Golden Knights. Tom Wilson is also starting to heat up a bit. He had an assist on Strome’s first goal and now has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last five games.

Notable Numbers and Observations

  • Alex Ovechkin is the 12th fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,500 points and became the second active player to reach that marker, joining Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
  • Tom Wilson seems like he is hitting and finishing his checks a lot more frequently
  • Charlie Lindgren was once again terrific. He made 34 saves and bailed the Caps out on numerous occasions. 
  • The Caps penalty kill has now given up nine goals over the course of seven games
  • Washington continues to struggle in the faceoff circle 

The Caps will look to bounce back this weekend in a Metropolitan Division showdown with the New York Rangers. 

By Jacob Cheris