Stars hold off scorching Ovechkin, Capitals for 2-1 victory
After notching an electrifying hat trick on Tuesday to reach 800 career goals, Alex Ovechkin’s quest to tie Gordie Howe for second all-time in goals scored was stifled by Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars.
Oettinger put on a spectacular performance in between the pipes and the Stars used two goals early in the third period to stop the Washington Capitals’ five-game winning streak for the 2-1 victory Thursday, Dec. 15.
It was a season-high, 45-save masterpiece for Oettinger, who bounced back from a tough 2-1 loss Monday that saw the Penguins score the go-ahead goal with 35 seconds left in the game.
In his interview after Thursday’s clutch victory over Washington, Oettinger said he knew how important the win was for the first-place Stars, who close out the road trip with tests against Carolina on Saturday and Columbus on Monday.
“Obviously this is a huge road trip for us and you’ve gotta do whatever you can to win on the road and find different ways to win every night,” Oettinger said. “[It was] just a full team effort and a lot of guys [were] blocking shots, selling out and helping me out. It just feels good to get rewarded.”
Oettinger knew he would have his hands full with Ovechkin bidding for goal 801, but he said he was focused on his own game.
“Obviously he’s chasing records and they’re going to try to find him whenever they can,” Oettinger said. “I just tried to play my game and have some fun and enjoy playing against one of the best of all time so it was fun to get a win.”
The Capitals returned home to Capital One Arena after a brief two-game road trip that saw Washington pick up a 5-2 win over Winnipeg and a 7-3 drubbing over Chicago.
With the fans ready to see history, the Stars, who are now 2-1 on their three-game road trip, did a terrific job keeping Ovechkin and history at bay.
But they didn’t keep Ovechkin off the scoresheet as he set up the Capitals’ only goal midway through the second period.
Dallas’ Ty Dellandrea failed to clear the zone and the Capitals jumped on the turnover. The puck was whipped across the ice by Dylan Strome to Ovechkin, who sent a pass through the Stars’ defense to the wide-open Conor Sheary.
Sheary made a deft play by corralling the puck with his right skate swiftly to his stick to beat Oettinger, who was scrambling to cover the right post.
After an even, scoreless first period that saw Dallas carry most of the territorial play while the Capitals leaned on their dangerous transition play, Washington dominated the second period.
The Stars were sloppy. They committed several turnovers and also struggled to exit their zone cleanly and with consistency.
Everything looked to be headed in the Capitals’ favor until a costly tripping penalty by Anthony Mantha on Joe Pavelski with 18 seconds left gave Dallas 1:42 worth of power-play time to start the third frame.
The Stars were 1-for-21 on the power play in their past six games and 1-for-13 in their past five road games including an unsuccessful first-period opportunity.
But that didn’t stop the Stars from grabbing all the momentum to begin the third period.
Roope Hintz secured the point-shot rebound and sent a bouncing pass into the crease, where Jamie Benn dug it out and put it into the wide-open net past Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren for his 12th of the season just 48 seconds into the third.
Dallas wasn’t done as the Stars took the 2-1 lead just 79 seconds later.
After a strong cycle, the Stars quickly changed the point of attack and it led to a point shot from Colin Miller that grazed Lars Eller’s backside and changed directions to elude Lindgren’s glove.
It was just Miller’s second goal and eighth point on the season.
The Stars, who improved to 18-8-5 (41 points) and held serve for first place in the Central Division with Winnipeg downing Nashville in overtime, did a good job keeping the pressure on in the first half of the third period, but the Capitals flipped a switch and made the final 10 minutes hectic for Dallas and Oettinger.
With Dallas packing it in defensively, the Capitals sent an all-out assault at Oettinger and he was more than up to the challenge.
As Washington sent shots from all angles, Oettinger made all the key saves, including a point-blank chance from Ovechkin.
The Capitals pulled the goalie with just over 2:30 left and nearly had the equalizer as Strome hit the right post as he was driving the net, but they couldn’t ever perforate Oettinger for the game-tying goal.
Analyzing Dallas’ defense on Ovechkin
Everyone knows Ovechkin is lethal when he sets up shop with his power-play one-timer in the left circle, but Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks when he reached goal number 800 with his hat trick, all three goals came in front of the net off loose plays and rebounds.
The Stars did a great job keeping him from getting too many clean looks on Oettinger and always had a stick and body on him.
Washington made a point to try to get him the puck, perhaps in favor of better opportunities, but Dallas was in good position defensively to either deny those passes or make it so that he couldn’t get power on his shots.
Ovechkin finished with five shots on goal, but it was only until late in the third that he tested Oettinger.
He still had an assist, but in two games against the Stars this season including a 2-0 loss at Dallas, Ovechkin was held scoreless. Headlining Ovechkin’s list of nemeses was Oettinger, who earned number one star in each game and stopped 72-of-73 total shots.
Oettinger finding his groove again
Even though Oettinger already had two shutouts in his back pocket, including one over the Capitals on Oct. 27, Thursday’s performance was by far his best of the season.
In fact, Oettinger is 3-0-0 in his short career when making 40 or more saves in the regular season.
Oettinger began the season with four straight wins, stopping 116-of-121 shots. However, Oettinger’s stellar play had dipped of late following an undisclosed lower-body injury against the New York Rangers on Oct. 29 — a game after his shutout over the Capitals.
However, he has now picked up three wins in his last four starts. Thursday against Washington, his rebound control was back to its usual standards. He was tracking the puck through traffic and had his head on a swivel for the Capitals’ shots from all areas of the ice.
He improved his record to 12-4-3 on the season and along with Scott Wedgewood, he gives the Stars a chance to win every night he’s in goal.
***
