Capitals 4 - 5 Stars
Final
  for this game

Stars hold on to edge Caps

Jan 18, 2015 - 7:36 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Antoine Roussel and Jamie Benn scored 16 seconds apart in the third period as the Dallas Stars downed the Washington Capitals, 5-4, on Saturday.

Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and Erik Cole each posted a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had lost five of six coming into the game. Kari Lehtonen turned aside 28 shots in the win.

"We fought back, scored a couple and hung on for dear life," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.

Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin, Eric Fehr and Andre Burakovsky all lit the lamp for the Capitals, who have dropped their past two. Justin Peters allowed all five goals on 26 shots.

Washington had trailed 3-0, but scored twice in the second period and tied the game just 21 seconds into the third when Ovechkin switched to the forehand on a breakaway and snapped it in for his 25th of the year.

The Stars, though, took the lead back three minutes later, as a John Klingberg wrister from the right wing was tipped to the left side by Ryan Garbutt. Roussel was there to snap it in for a 4-3 lead.

Just 16 seconds later, Benn gave the Stars some breathing room after Seguin's pass from the right wing missed its intended target and went to the left wing where Benn wrister it home.

Washington had all kinds of chances from there, but Lehtonen turned them all aside until Backstrom scored with 3:26 to play to make it a one-goal game. Ovechkin brought the puck back to the top of the left circle and used a backdoor pass to get it to the low right side where Backstrom one-timed it in for his 14th of the season.

The Caps pulled Peters from the net for an extra attacker late, but the Stars kept them from getting set up to hold on for the victory.

"Obviously we dug ourselves a hole," said Washington coach Barry Trotz. "I thought we were better as the game went on. ... I thought there was good resiliency. We had a lot of push, a lot of chances and they had a good response."

Dallas scored on the power play just 2:26 in as Spezza sent a backhand pass from the right boards to the slot where Seguin was all alone for an easy goal and a 1-0 lead.

It was 2-0 after Jyrki Jokipakka threw a shot on net from the high slot that Cole tipped in with 1:42 left in the first.

The Stars took a 3-0 lead at 4:13 of the second, as a rush play was finished when Cole passed it from the right wing to the slot and Spezza slapped it home.

Washington, though, scored the next two goals to make it a one-goal game and got it started at 5:30 of the second on a 2-on-1 break that Fehr finished off for his 14th of the year.

The Caps made it a 3-2 game with just under four minutes to play in the second as Burakovsky's wrister from the slot beat Lehtonen to the glove.

Game Notes

Dallas plays in Chicago on Sunday ... Washington returns home to face Edmonton on Tuesday ... Dallas was 1-for-5 on the power play, while Washington finished the game 0-for-3 ... Jokipakka, who was recalled from Texas of the AHL earlier on Saturday, had two assists.






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