Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals fell to the Dallas Stars, 5-4, in overtime at American Airlines Center on Saturday in the final game of their four-game road trip heading into the all-star break. The Capitals have lost four straight games in regulation for the first time this season and have now lost five straight on the road. Charlie Lindgren did everything humanly possible to keep the Capitals in the game, but he did not get much help in front of him. He finished the afternoon with 30 saves. Here is how it went down.
LINES AND PAIRINGS
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Max Pacioretty
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson – Nick Jensen
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: Right-wing Matthew Phillips and defensemen Alex Alexeyev and Ethan Bear
Injuries: Left-wing Sonny Milano (upper body) and center Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
PERIOD 1
Anthony Mantha gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead on a snipe from the high slot. Evgeny Kuznetsov brought the puck into the attacking zone and had his shot blocked by a Dallas defender, but Mantha followed up on the play and blew it past Jake Oettinger at 9:40. It was Mantha’s 15th of the campaign and third goal in the last three games.
We enjoyed this Mo goal – his 15th of the season pic.twitter.com/NiGN1C4NMa
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2024
Sixty-eight seconds later, however, the Stars found themselves in a 4-on-2, odd-man rush, and Wyatt Johnston knotted things up at one a piece. Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen had the apples at 10:48.
SPEED. THEY ARE SPEED! pic.twitter.com/PnEqxskIGM
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 27, 2024
After the TV timeout, Thomas Harley gave Dallas a 2-1 lead on a seeing-eye shot from the point. Jamie Benn and Sam Steel had the assists at 11:07.
Thomas Harley is heating back up.
You don’t want to let Thomas Harley heat back up. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DhzDgN0qM0
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 27, 2024
The Stars outshot the Capitals 11-7 in the first twenty minutes.
PERIOD 2
After being snakebit against the Colorado Avalanche and for pretty much the entire season, Rasmus Sandin finally got on the scoresheet, tying the game at two. It was a long-range snapshot from the blue line, beating Oettinger to the glove side. Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Trevor van Riemsdyk had the assists at 6:24 of the second. It was also Sandin’s third career goal against Oettinger.
Sandy takes a beauty of a stroll on the blue line for his first of the year pic.twitter.com/DVSFNQU3ys
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2024
Dallas was put on its second power play of the game, and this time, the Stars capitalized. In front of the cage, Mason Marchment made it 3-2 for the black and green on a tic-tac-toe sequence. Tyler Seguin and Heiskanen had the assists at 11:00.
Perfectly placed 🤌 pic.twitter.com/89ZypBLcZD
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 27, 2024
Lindgren made several huge saves at the end of the period to keep it a one-goal game. The Stars outshot the Capitals 15-6 in the middle frame.
PERIOD 3
Just 2:24 into the final stanza, Matt Duchene was left alone in front of Lindgren and whistled a shot past the Capitals netminder to make it 4-2 Dallas. Marchment had the lone helper on the play.
THE DUCHENES GO WILD! pic.twitter.com/hwana6vdtr
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 27, 2024
The Capitals announced around the 10:30 mark that Max Pacioretty would not return to the game due to a lower-body injury. It is unclear what happened or when; however, the injury is unrelated to his Achilles.
INJURY UPDATE: #Caps forward Max Pacioretty (lower body) will not return to today’s game.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 27, 2024
Washington had a late power play with the extra attacker, and Alex Ovechkin made it a one-goal game with a slapshot from the point with two minutes to go in regulation.
OVI GOT THE COMEBACK STARTED pic.twitter.com/C4H73Imdpc
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2024
Dylan Strome tied the game with 43 seconds to go in regulation. The play was initially blown dead due to the whistle blowing before the puck came free of Oettinger. However, the call on the ice was confirmed, and the Capitals earned themselves a much-needed point.
Stromer clutch. What else is new? pic.twitter.com/K0Vm6LHcIB
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2024
Washington outshot the Stars 13-9 in the final frame.
OVERTIME
Stars’ Harley ended matters on the counterattack. Jason Robertson and Duchene had the helpers at 3:26.
Up Next
The Capitals won’t be back in action until Tuesday, February 6th, when they take on the Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena (7 PM EST Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market.)
By Jacob Cheris
Wow, really wanted them to steal this game…but what a come back. At least they didn’t roll over and gave the Stars a little bit of a scare.
Ditto on that!
I remember how we discussed it just before the game)
👍
PF in 3rd with 50 g and 56 pts.. Caps have 47 g and 51 pts… The Wild Card will go down to the final game.. PF were smoked by the BB today… no Hart means no heart for the PF
do we really want this team to make the playoffs? I mean to do that would mean they’ll be buyers at the trade deadline which means they’ll mortgage their future to make the playoffs NOW. and unless they make like 4-5 solid additions, this team has zero chance to win the Cup.
Thanks for someone else saying this. For what do we want to make the play-offs? Another in a long string of 1st round losses, another mid-teen position in the draft? A good coach always tries to win, but Carbary needs to use the rest of this season to evaluate and develop our young players and GMBM needs to trade anybody over 30 he can for youth. This summer we’ll have some money to invest in young free agents and the rebuild will be underway.
There is very little available in FA and especially below 30.
Yes, this needs to be a true evaluation year. Players and coaches. Maybe even GMs.
GMs in plural?! But I know where you’re coming from))
Yes, that whole chain of command
The Caps’ offense is so bad, they’d go nowhere in the playoffs. I’d say, time to sell most of the older guys. Note: the contracts of Mantha and Edmundson expire after this season and the contracts of Backstrom, Kuznetsov, and Oshie expire after 2024-25.
Why is Nick B traveling with the team?
Ovi’s wife is probably asking that as well.
Because the owner is tired of paying him to sit at home and wants him on the ice earning his money. Foolishly he will try another comeback pushing a younger healthy player to the stands just so the owner can try to relive the past again. Bringing him back will signify that the team truly is washed up and needs a new GM and whole front office (yes the Patricks need to go). Maybe they think that a slow Backy can get Ovie scoring or make him happy. Honestlyatthis point this team is NOT a playoffteam and need to purge the roster of all older players to let the youngr players get experience and position themselves for a top 5 pick (unless the GN trades it away for an older declining player with a bad contract).
When a player is deemed fit to play, the team must activate him.
It’s possible that he’s doing OJT or a PTO for a post-career job.
Or maybe he does think he can return. It’s hard for pro athletes to retire. How many NHL players postpone official retirement after their last game hoping that someone will still need them, that their phone will ring one last time.
Or maybe he just wants to eat breakfast with Ovi.
I would look hard to retirefirst. Wife and kids probablyfriving himcrazy. He was playing terrible after his return and it was obvious that he wa not the same skater. The time off during the summer did not change that. And watching him this year he has lost 2 steps and is not anywhere near what he was even 2 years ago Is he fit to play, probably; however at what level and how effective? He was not, and will never again be what he was and certinally not NHL ready or effective. And he will most likely never beat that level ever again which means that he is a detrement to himself and the team if he thinks that he is ready to play again. No one has sucessfuly ever comeback from the type of surgery he had and he is NOT going to be the first! He will never be an effective playerin the NHL again. So if he wants to travel with the team and eat meals with is buddy and then they each can have a good cry on each others shoulder about the way that their careers are ending or ended! If Backy wants maybe he can become ascout for the Caps for several years so that he can feel that he is earning his salary. Or maybe even acoach.
need a gif of Mantha getting in the ref’s ear when that game tying goal was in dispute.
I think he said some bad word. 😂
https://x.com/GinoHard_/status/1751361560432222547?s=20
hahaha, thank you! That is awesome. At least Mantha is showing some emotion, that will help come the trade deadline
I saw more physicality from the team than I have in quite awhile. Need more of that.
Correction: this was NOT a regulation loss. Anth but! So, not the fourth regulation loss in a row. Fourth in a row, 0-3-1 🙂
This was exhilarating, breathtaking in that I’m still completely out of breath.
Somehow it felt like the Caps could come back to snatch at least a point, even down 2-4 with just over 2 to play. Felt like that kind of night, left evth out there to get it done, even if their feet were failing. Remember a similar occurrence a couple of seasons ago.
Too bad the Caps didn’t have their legs when coming back from offensive rushes. Coulda been sharper defensively.
But I’m definitely relieved to once again see the effort. A glimmer of hope for more decent play after the break. Even looking at the schedule 😬🙂
Darn. Quit listening to the game with 8 minutes left.
Then again, maybe I should have left sooner.
Not sure what kind of fan that I am but I watch hockey because I love it. Win or lose. Only have been serious for 2 years. I supplement with Bears and PWHL Minnesota. I love it all.
Sell! Sell! Sell! The Caps played with a lot of heart today. Wilson, Strome, Mantha, Oshie and others. Credit to the players and coaching staff.
It’s clear this year’s team isn’t any kind of playoff threat. We fans like to see them be competitive and they have been more competitive than I expected. Especially with a -31 goal differential.
Kuzy’s game has fallen off badly this year. No defense at all, weak on faceoffs and he creates very little offense now.
Ovie has been better than Kuzy offensively but that’s not saying much. The OT goal against that Dallas scored was a direct result of Ovie misfiring offensively in the offensive zone and Dallas skating the puck the other way and scoring. Ovie plays no D, of course. That’s fine. It’s Ovie. I get it.
I’m hoping fans will be cool and let ownership know that we want a tear down and rebuild. Other than finding Ovie a playmaking center for a reasonable cost I’d trade for all the picks and prospects I could. Mediocrity sucks.
I totally agree on a rebuild however Ted, who is at this point I believe Ovies puppet, will not let that happen as he under the delusion that he must make the playoffs to make money. I can remember when the marketing plan for this team was come and see the superstars of the other team.
Have you ever noticed how often Ovies shot, especially on the PP ends up at the blue line or worse even furtherdown the ice? In a 3-3 situation this is almost always going to be a gimmie for the other team if he misses.
AS for trades; how many older players will really bring a decent pick (not just a 6th or 7th rounder) and/or a good prospect? Few! Most teams know the situation that the Caps arein and they aregoing to cherry pick the roster and then try to give back their bad contracts which the GM will accept. Have no faith on the GM or any of the front office especially the Patricks. Time for them all to go Bye Bye. As the HC is a young vibrant coach so should the GM and other front office personel.
Honestly at this point in their careers give Ovie, Backy, Oshie, Kuzy, Kuemper and Carlson and their agents the green light to go out and see if they can facilitate a trade. Move the aged wood asap and bring up the guys from Hershey to fill their slots. And any of those guys left herecome June would be unconditionally released.
That’s exactly that I saw in OT. Ovechkin tries to skate through a bunch of people and fails; then he strolls slowly back up the ice and into the game when there’s a 3 on 2 and gently waves a stick at the player shooting the winning goal. Imagine how the other guys on the team really feel about him. He’s the template for how not to play hockey. He’s been like this for years. Give me Sidney Crosby any day. At the least he tries at both ends and cares about the game
Known as a coach killer, I am sure that like other sports heis respected but there is a lotof show that goes on in public. He is respected for his scoring and not much else. I have always seen im as a great 1 way player who wants to be in the spotlight and get all the attention.