Oettinger, Stars snap Capitals’ 5-game winning streak originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
WASHINGTON — The Capitals entered the third period holding a one-goal lead over the Stars on Thursday night but they couldn’t hold onto it as Dallas pulled out a 2-1 win to snap Washington’s winning streak at five games.
All eyes were on Alex Ovechkin with him sitting one goal shy of Gordie Howe’s 801 mark for the second most in NHL history, but fans would have to wait at least one more game after Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger showed out at Capital One Arena.
The rising Vezina contender, who was responsible for a 2-0 shutout of the Capitals on Oct. 27, once again proved to be a challenge. Washington kept up a high tempo for most of the evening, firing off 46 shots on Oettinger including 15 in the third period.
However, he prevented all but one from finding the back of the net with his lone blemish coming midway through the second period. Dylan Strome received the puck at the right point and saw Ovechkin waving for a pass from his office in the left circle. Strome fired across the ice to his captain, who quickly passed it right over to a waiting Sheary up front.
The goal was Sheary’s 10th of the 2022-23 season, marking the seventh-straight year he’s scored double-digit goals. While Sheary has enjoyed a bump in offensive production since being moved up the first line alongside Ovechkin and Strome, he’s been one of the team’s top goal scorers ever since he arrived in Washington.
Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Sheary has scored the third-most goals on the Capitals (42) behind only Ovechkin. His tally Thursday extended his ongoing point streak to three games, which matched his longest such streak of the season.
Taking the loss was Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who pitched a shutout over the first 40 minutes of the game before allowing a pair of goals in the opening two minutes of the third period. Overall, he stopped 24 of 26 shots in his first defeat since stepping up in the place of the injured Darcy Kuemper on Dec. 5.
With the loss, the Capitals fell to 15-13-4 with 34 points toward the Metropolitan Division standings. They’ll look to get back on track — and see Ovechkin continue his pursuit of Howe’s No. 2 mark — when the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to D.C. on Saturday night.
