It’s game time for the last time in a long time.
The Washington Capitals will take on the Dallas Stars at US Airaways Arena in the final game of their, so far, disastrous four-game road trip which has seen them lose in regulation in three straight. Today, they will try to turn around the ship in their final game before a nine-day break. NINE. DAYS.
The Capitals’ unofficial full-time starter, Charlie Lindgren, will jump back into the net while midseason free agent signing, Ethan Bear, will be a healthy scratch.
The game is airing on Monumental Sports Network 2 and puck drop is a little after 2 pm. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call.
Capitals lines
Alex Alexeyev, Matthew Phillips, and Ethan Bear are the scratches.
Lineys#CapsStars | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/Bslun8qdW5
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2024
Congratulations to Matt Duchene
✨1⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣✨
Before tomorrow's game against the Caps, we're honoring Matt Duchene with his Silver Stick to commemorate his 1,000th game, which he skated in on December 7th, 2023, in Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/HSioJyHsMw
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 26, 2024
Dallas is honoring him before the game. And Beau Duchene is on the ice for warmups!
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD AS BEAU DUCHENE SCORES! pic.twitter.com/O4fa9IPDmJ
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 27, 2024
Tunnel weirdness
Last go before the break#ALLCAPS | @CaesarsSports pic.twitter.com/acW9Rafafo
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 27, 2024
1st Period
Charlie Lindgren will oppose Jake Oettinger in net. Protas-McMichael-Oshie and Sandin-TVR get the start.
The Stars are 7-2-0 in their last 9 against the Capitals.
🚨 1-0 Capitals. An Evgeny Kuznetsov shot gets blocked by a defenseman’s skate, bouncing right to Anthony Mantha in the slot. Mantha then fires a beautiful wrist shot past Oettinger. Mantha’s 15th comes at the 9:40 mark.
🚨 1-1 tie. Wyatt Johnston answers back 1:08 later on a four-on-two break. He takes a drop pass and beats Lindgren easily from the slot. Johnston’s 14th comes at 10:48.
🚨 2-1 Stars. Stars score twice in 19 seconds. John Carlson and Martin Fehervary turn it over along the corner boards. The puck eventually makes it to Thomas Harley at the point, who fires the puck past a heavily-screened Lindgren. Harley’s 11th of the season comes at 11:07.
Connor McMichael to the box for hooking at 16:27. McMichael was tugging on Stars forward adek Faksa in front of the net as the puck was near the Caps’ goal in the defensive zone. Stars to their first power play.
TVR high-sticked negating the final 22 seconds of the Stars’ power play. Mason Marchment to the box at 18:05.
The Stars outshot the Capitals 11 to 7 in the first period and out-attempted them at five-on-five, 18 to 10. Five-on-five expected goals, Dallas leads 0.81 to 0.26.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 2-2 tie. Rasmus Sandin scores his first goal of the season. Utilizing a brilliant Beck Malenstyn screen in front of the net, the Swedish defenseman fired a snap shot past Oettinger. The goal came at 6:24.
Charlie Lindgren doing his best to keep this game tied. At five-on-five, Stars are out-chancing the Caps 7-2 10:18 into the period. They also have three of the first four high-danger chances.
Beck Malenstyn to the box for tripping at 10:18.
🚨 3-2 Stars. On the resulting power play, Mason Marchment scores on a tap-in in front of the net after a great feed by Tyler Seguin. Marchment’s tally comes at the 11:00 mark.
This is an absolute beatdown by any measure minus the score. Dallas is outshooting the Capitals 26 to 13 and out-attempting them 44 to 24 at five-on-five. Expected goals at five-on-five is Dallas, 1.94 to 0.65. In the second period alone, the Stars out-chanced the Capitals 10 to 3 and had 5 high-danger attempts to the Caps’ 1.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
🚨 4-2 Stars. Matt Duchene scores on his big day from the hashmarks between the circles. No chance for Lindy. Goal came 2:24 into the third.
uh oh
Max Pacioretty unable to finish game against Dallas Stars due to lower-body injury
Sam Steel to the box after tripping Martin Fehervary at 16:24.
🚨 4-3 Stars. ALEX OVECHKIN SCOARS on the power play with 2 minutes remaining! It’s the 831st goal of his career.
🚨 4-4 tie. Dylan Strome finds the puck between Oettinger’s legs and ties it with Charlie Lindgren on the bench for an extra attacker. It’s Strome’s 19th of the season at 19:17. The goal was reviewed because the official’s whistle came at the same time Strome found the puck and scored.
The Capitals get a point. They were outshot 36 to 25 in the game and out-attempted 60-44 at five-on-five. Expected goals at five-on-five were Dallas 2.73 to 1.18.
Overtime
Puck is dropped.
🚨 5-4 Stars. Thomas Harley scores his second of the game on a three-on-two break. That’s consecutive games with overtime goals. That’s his third overtime winner of the season.
Harley’s goal came after Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome had a chance at the other end but didn’t get a shot off.
Caps only get one point out of 8 in a pivotal four-game road trip.
Read the RMNB recap.
Break time: Stars beat Caps 5-4 despite last-minute comeback
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