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Stars-Capitals Preview

Mar 7, 2010 - 6:15 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Dallas (28-24-12) at Washington (44-13-8), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Even with Alex Ovechkin failing to produce at his normal prolific clip, the NHL-leading Washington Capitals have come out of the Olympic break looking poised at making a run at the Stanley Cup.

The Dallas Stars, hoping to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence, have not played with the same intensity since the Vancouver Games.

Ovechkin and the Capitals look to win their fourth straight overall and their 14th in a row at home Monday night when they face a Stars team trying to avoid its fourth consecutive loss.

Washington (44-13-8) has looked like a favorite to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup for much of the season, but it went through a rough stretch a few weeks ago, losing its final three games before the Olympics.

The team has since regrouped, winning its first three contests since the NHL resumed play. The Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 2-0 on Saturday night to extend the club-record home winning streak to 13.

Jose Theodore made 30 saves for his first shutout since March 17, and has stopped 53 of 54 shots in two starts since the Olympics. He has been in goal for seven games during the home winning streak, posting a 1.99 goals-against average.

"He's brimming with confidence," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We hope he can keep it."

This sort of play from Theodore is needed with Ovechkin and linemate Nicklas Backstrom struggling to find the back of the net.

Ovechkin leads the NHL with 90 points and is among the league leaders with 42 goals, but the two-time MVP has gone a season-high six straight games without a score. Backstrom is tied for fifth in points with 77, yet hasn't scored in five games.

Boudreau doesn't see their struggles lasting much longer.

"They're just off by, like, half a second," he said. "Their timing since coming back from the Olympics has just been a little off. But you know they're going to catch on. It's going to happen, sooner or later. ... I'm not worried about them. It says an awful lot for the rest of the players that they can score while two of your best players are not."

Ovechkin and Backstrom seem to have a good chance of returning to form with a game against a Dallas team that has had virtually no success on the defensive end since the break.

After winning six of nine games prior to the Olympics to work their way into the playoff mix, the Stars (28-24-12) have seemed to regress, losing three straight by a combined 17-5 score. In Saturday's 6-3 loss at Pittsburgh, Dallas led 3-1 early in the second period before falling apart.

"Every mistake we seem to make now just ends up in our net, so it's magnified 1,000 times," center Mike Modano said.

Kari Lehtonen had 28 saves Saturday in his first start of the season since being acquired in a trade with Atlanta on Feb. 9. Drafted second overall by the Thrashers in 2002, he made his Dallas debut in relief in Thursday's 6-1 loss to St. Louis, stopping 12 of 14 shots.

With Lehtonen still recovering from back surgery, Marty Turco could be back in net for this game.

Turco, who has stopped only 24 of 33 shots in two starts since the Olympics, was between the pipes in Dallas' last game against the Capitals, a 6-5 overtime loss Oct. 25, 2008. He made 24 saves.

Turco is 3-0-1 with a 2.31 GAA in five career appearances against the Capitals.

This will be the first meeting for these teams at the Verizon Center since Washington's 4-3 win Nov. 30, 2006.