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You cannot win hockey games if you don’t put the puck in the goal: Stars beat Capitals 2-0

The Washington Capitals continued their four-game road trip into Dallas on Thursday to take on the Stars. A late start for us out east but could the Caps make it worth staying up a bit longer than normal?

Jason Robertson tipped home a Nils Lundkvist blast to give the Stars a 1-0 lead through twenty minutes. A whole bunch of nothing in the second. Joel Kiviranta ripped John Carlson off and scored shorthanded in the third.

Stars beat Capitals 2-0.

  • I watch that first period and wonder when the Capitals became so utterly boring offensively. Everything is toward the outer parts of the rink, there is little to no creativity, and just no visual cohesion or chemistry. The Stars are normally a good defensive club but this is the norm for the Caps right now against any team.
  • The game started off with Aliaksei Protas and Conor Sheary both smarting in pain almost less than a minute into regulation. Both would take their next shifts just fine but it sure was a spooky beginning to a late October night.
  • The San Jose Sharks are rumored to be looking to deal literally anyone on their roster not named Tomas Hertl. That includes winger Timo Meier. I want winger Timo Meier on the Capitals.

  • Did the Capitals put together two good shifts in a row in the first forty minutes? Goodness gracious they are so toothless offensively. We had a discussion about this in the RMNB Discord. We came to the conclusion that the five-on-five offensive game being nonexistent is definitely contributing to the rough defensive side of things down the other end. That kind of sounds obvious now that I write it. Sue me, this game was omega boring.
  • Uh, so, yea…Dmitry Orlov is probably going to get suspended for that hit on Mason Marchment. He will be a repeat offender as well as he sat for two games last season after kneeing Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers. Matt Irwin, get those skates ready.
  • Does anyone else kinda like the low camera angle the Stars have for broadcasts? It’s a nice change of pace. I don’t know how I’d feel about watching hockey like that for a full 41-game slate though.
  • Jason Robertson is one of my favorite players in the league and is also sneaky one of the best forwards playing today. I wish the Stars had failed to sign him long term and he somehow made his way to DC. If anyone wants to buy me his Reverse Retro jersey from this season that’d be grand.

  • Nothing changed in the third. Just zero urgency or flow for the entire 60 minutes. The first time they’ve been shutout since January 24, 2022, against the Vegas Golden Knights.
  • John Carlson cannot be getting ripped off on that play. Just no good. Nothing else you can really say.
  • Pretty great goalie duel between Jake Oettinger and Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper maybe had a slightly tougher workload. Oettinger is the early favorite to win the Vezina. The dude is unbeatable at the moment…not that the Caps really made it tough for him.

Next up, the Caps will be inside Bridgestone Arena to do battle with Filip Forsberg and the Nashville Predators. The Martin Erat Bowl if you will.

Headline photo via @estum1/Twitter

RMNB is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHLPA, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.

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