The Washington Capitals played much better against the Dallas Stars than in their previous loss to the Ottawa Senators, but unfortunately, came out with the same result. No puck luck, an own goal, and some bad refereeing led to a 1-0 shutout loss.
Definitely way better of an effort, but that makes the lack of standings points even more frustrating. Need a win in the next one.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2025-10-28
#ALLCAPS
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) October 28, 2025 at 11:27 PM
- Unlike the past two morning numbers posts, I have nothing really to complain about from this game. Dallas scored their one fluke power-play goal off a deflection from Martin Fehervary, and the only reason they were on a power play to begin with was because the refs got conned by a third straight blatant dive by a Stars player. Otherwise, at five-on-five, the Capitals finished up 49-29 in shot attempts, 21-11 in shots on goal, 29-12 in scoring chances, 11-9 in high-danger chances, and 2.25-1.07 in expected goals. Just one of those games.
- My only real gripe comes with the power play, which, in classic Halloween spirit, felt like a horror show to watch. During their six minutes of man-advantage time, the Caps created just six shot attempts and two shots on goal. I will keep saying that I hate the two-defenseman look, and I do believe something structural needs to change. Alex Ovechkin’s inability to handle the puck at the blue line is a problem, so if he’s staying in his office, they might need to overload that side with another player above him. I don’t think that will happen, though.
- Logan Thompson was great again in his 50th career appearance for the Capitals. He made 18 stops on 19 shots against and, per MoneyPuck, saved 1.62 more goals than expected. It’s going to be very tough for Team Canada to pretend like they aren’t playing stupid politics with their goaltending situation. He’s easily their number one.
- Hendrix Lapierre looked tremendous in his return to center, and I think he’s genuinely been very good for a handful of games now. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals were up 14-2 in shot attempts, 9-0 in scoring chances, and 5-0 in high-danger chances. I also think Anthony Beauvillier and Ethen Frank had really strong games on the wings of his line. Let’s hope Frank is alright after that late-game collision.
- I thought Jakub Chychrun was really fighting the puck in some key moments, but his overall game was good enough for him to be a real positive. He played 27:12 of total ice time in the loss, the most he has ever played in a single game for the Capitals and most since he skated 28:37 for the Ottawa Senators in an overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings on January 31, 2024.
- The Capitals lost three games in a row just once last season. They’ll next play a New York Islanders team that they already beat on the road 4-2 this season, and is currently last in the Eastern Conference.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
