The Capitals had earned at the least some extent in their first eight video games this month, profitable seven of these and dropping the eighth in additional time, and had overcome third-period deficits in 5 of their earlier six video games to develop into the NHL’s hottest group.
But for the primary time in weeks, the Capitals dug themselves too deep in a 3-2 loss, a deflating setback that despatched Washington into Monday’s commerce deadline with questions on including new blood to the roster. The group additionally should get wholesome after a number of key gamers have been out of the lineup with accidents, absences that have been obvious because the Capitals got here out flat and couldn’t make up for it late.
“We’re down 2-0, [and] we’re chasing the game. It’s a good effort at the end, but you can’t do that,” Coach Peter Laviolette mentioned. “You can’t give up two-goal leads and expect to come back every game.”
Still, Washington had an opportunity in the ultimate minutes after Dmitry Orlov lower the Stars’ lead to 3-2 with simply over 11 minutes remaining. The Capitals outshot Dallas 14-2 in the ultimate 20 minutes, and captain Alex Ovechkin had a number of seems on a late energy play.
Adding salt to the wound was a late play throughout a chase for the puck in which Dallas’s Jamie Benn appeared to shove defenseman John Carlson into the boards. Carlson went to the dressing room for the sport’s ultimate seconds as Washington suffered its first regulation loss in 9 video games.
“[Benn] gave it a lot of help. That’s dirty,” Laviolette mentioned of Benn, who was assessed a roughing minor (as was Tom Wilson) from a scrum that adopted the play. Laviolette added that he anticipated the NHL to evaluate the play for supplemental self-discipline.
But with the commerce deadline looming, Sunday felt like “just another day,” mentioned middle Lars Eller, who returned to the lineup after spending the previous week in the NHL’s coronavirus protocols. The vibe definitely would have felt completely different if the Capitals weren’t in the playoff hunt, he mentioned, and making an attempt to lengthen their hottest stretch of the season.
But Washington was sloppy in the primary interval as Dallas, which had misplaced 4 of 5 and was enjoying the second sport of a back-to-back following a loss Saturday on the New York Islanders, took a 2-0 lead on a objective by Alexander Radulov and a power-play tally by Roope Hintz. Ovechkin lower the deficit to 2-1 with a slap shot on an influence play in the second interval. It was his fortieth objective — making this the twelfth season he has scored at the least 40, tying Wayne Gretzky’s report — and his eleventh in the previous 14 video games.
But Washington’s penalty kill, which was lacking a number of key gamers, watched as Hintz made it 3-1 with one other power-play objective previous the Capitals’ Vitek Vanecek (20 saves), who entered the sport having posted six straight wins.
“We always find a way to win or come back, so we tried to do it today,” mentioned Orlov, who lower the Capitals’ deficit to 3-2 with slightly below 11 minutes remaining, scoring off a feed from Wilson to deliver the Capital One Arena crowd to its ft. Vanecek made a vital pad save moments in a while a point-blank shot by Jason Robertson.
It wasn’t sufficient. Washington couldn’t convert on an influence play with slightly below 5 minutes remaining, and Dallas held on.
“There’s another game coming up, so we need to take positives from this game,” Orlov mentioned, “and bring it next one and try to play a full 60 minutes, not just every period better.”
Here’s what else to know from the Capitals’ loss:
Eller returns; van Riemsdyk to IR
After spending practically every week in isolation following a optimistic take a look at for the coronavirus in Vancouver, Eller returned to the lineup Sunday. He mentioned he had no signs and was by no means sick whereas isolating, however he felt his return was underwhelming.
“I felt okay. Not one of my best games. I was okay. Fair, I guess,” he mentioned.
Meanwhile, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk was positioned on injured reserve with an upper-body damage suffered in Friday’s win at Carolina and shall be eligible to be activated this coming Saturday, the group mentioned. Forward T.J. Oshie missed his second straight sport with a lower-body damage, and middle Nic Dowd additionally sat out with an upper-body damage and is day-to-day.
The Capitals referred to as up Brett Leason from Hershey of the American Hockey League and reassigned Mike Vecchione, who made his first NHL look in practically 5 years in opposition to the Hurricanes.
With a number of key members of their penalty kill on the shelf, the Capitals surrendered two power-play targets to Hintz, the second of which gave the Stars a 3-1 lead halfway by the second. Washington had entered the day with an 86.4 penalty killing proportion this month, good for fifth in the NHL.
“The players are responsible,” Orlov mentioned. “So we’ll see. Our PK has been good this month. … So, yeah, today, we give up two, but we’ll see what the coach is going to show in the meeting and go from there.”
Washington’s energy play had been a lot improved in latest weeks, too — its 38.5 conversion proportion in March ranked fourth getting into Sunday and was up from 16.4 getting into the month. The Capitals completed 1 for five in opposition to Dallas.
Former Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby didn’t go well with up for the Stars — he’s nursing a lower-body damage — however he nonetheless returned to Capital One Arena for the primary time since leaving the group two years in the past.
The beloved backstop of the Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup group spent a while taking pictures with followers earlier than the sport, and he acquired a loud ovation after a tribute video in the course of the first interval.