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Carlson, Wilson drive Capitals past Stars

Defenseman John Carlson and winger Tom Wilson each collected a goal and an assist as the visiting Washington Capitals skated to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and captain Alex Ovechkin (an empty-netter) also tallied, and Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves for the Capitals, who snapped a three-game winless skid (0-1-2) and avenged a 4-3 overtime loss to Dallas on Tuesday.

Radek Faksa scored on a wraparound at the seven-minute mark of the third period, and Anton Khudobin turned aside 21 shots for the Stars, who sustained just their second regulation loss to Washington in their last 18 games (13-2-3). The Stars dropped to 1-4-1 on the season.

The Capitals opened the scoring in their fifth consecutive contest after taking advantage of defenseman Joel Hanley's high-sticking double-minor penalty.

Brendan Leipsic wired a sharp pass to Jakub Vrana, whose sharp-angle bid from the right circle was denied by Khudobin. The puck squirted out in the slot to Wilson, who beat Khudobin at 3:17 of the first period for his second goal in as many games.

Khudobin kept Washington from doubling its lead early in the second period by denying Ovechkin from in close.

Carlson, however, prevented an attempted clearance by Dallas, skated in and executed a give-and-go with Garnet Hathaway before shoveling the puck past Khudobin at 7:13 of the second period. Carlson's second goal of the season gave him nine points on the season, and he added a 10th with a third-period assist.

Kuznetsov skated up the middle of the ice and breezed past Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera before backhanding the puck past Khudobin to give the Capitals a 3-0 lead at 3:35 of the third period. The goal was Kuznetsov's second in three contests since serving a season-opening three-game suspension for inappropriate conduct following a positive test for cocaine while playing for Russia at the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Slovakia.

Samsonov was playing in his first game since making 25 saves in the Capitals' 2-1 victory at the New York Islanders on Oct. 4. The 22-year-old Russian was the 22nd overall pick of Washington in the 2015 NHL Draft.

--Field Level Media