Capitals hand Stars sixth consecutive loss
John Carlson scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:59 left, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night in Washington.
Carlson beat goalie Kari Lehtonen on a quick one-timer from the right side after a Lars Eller pass in a four-on-four situation, handing Dallas a sixth straight loss.
The Capitals got a goal and two assists from Alex Ovechkin, plus a goal and an assist apiece from Carlson and T.J. Oshie. Matt Niskanen scored a goal, and Eller had two assists.
Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn each had a goal and an assist for Dallas. Tyler Seguin also scored, and John Klingberg notched two helpers.
Washington improved to 7-3-0 in its past 10 games and moved its Metropolitan Division lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Columbus Blue Jackets to four points.
The Stars now are 0-4-2 in their past six games, the first time they have dropped six in a row since March 2015.
Washington changed up from its traditional home red jerseys to the navy blue sweaters that it wore during the outdoor game at Navy vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this month.
There was not much offense in a first period that featured just nine shots overall -- five from Dallas -- but the Stars came out of it with a 1-0 lead.
Dallas opened the scoring on a Seguin power-play goal with 3:56 left in the first, his 39th tally of the season.
Oshie began what would become a five-goal second period and tied it with his goal from the high slot at 4:07. The teams then each scored twice more, and the second period ended up tied at 3.
The Caps made it 2-1 on a Niskanen goal at 5:32 before Dallas tied it when Radulov scored at 11:48. Ovechkin then beat Lehtonen on a one-timer for career goal No. 601 and moved past Jari Kurri into 19th place overall in NHL history, giving Washington a 3-2 lead at 13:41.
Dallas tied it when Benn grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and came in on a mini-breakaway to beat goalie Braden Holtby with 1:45 left in the period for a 3-3 tie.
After Carlson scored, the Stars couldn't do much in the final two minutes. Radulov drew a penalty, and Washington spent much of that time playing keep-away.
Holtby got the win by making 24 saves, while Lehtonen stopped 28 shots.
--Field Level Media
