NHL Image of the Night- January 5th

Jason LaBarbera sprawls out to make a glove save on Mike Ribeiro of the Dallas Stars. The Stars won in the shutout 3-2 (3-2). Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

NHL Image of the Night- December 10th

Matt Niskanen of the Dallas Stars dives, but is too late as Martin Hanzal of the Phoenix Coyotes' scores the game-winning goal. Phoenix won the game 5-3. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

NHL Image of the Night- December 5th

Toby Peterson of the Dallas Stars scores a goal in the second period of Dallas' 2-1 victory over Colorado in overtime. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

NHL Image of the Night- November 30th

Dallas Stars' center Mike Modano celebrates his game-winning goal with 2:21 left in the third period against Edmonton. Modano finished with one goal and one assist on the night and now has 1300 points in his career. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

NHL Image of the Night- November 7th

Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks gets air-born trying to pass Nicklas Grossman of the Dallas Stars.  Dallas won the game 5-2.  Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

NHL Image of the Night- October 25th

Tyler Sloan scores his first career NHL goal in the third period against Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars. Washington won the game 6-5 in Overtime. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press and Matt Slocum.

Post-Game: Capitals @ Stars

The Capitals win a wild one out west, 6-5 in Overtime. The win ended the Capitals three game losing streak and ended their road trip on a positive note, finishing the trip with a record of 1-2.

Washington had stellar performances from the supporting cast Saturday night as Sergei Fedorov and Tomas Fleischmann both chipped in a goal for each of the first two periods.

Once again, Jose Theodore had a spectacular game, turning away shot after shot. I think Capitals' fans no longer have buyer remorse as JT60 is living up to the hype.

The Caps had a 4-3 lead going into the third frame, but that did not even last one minute. Loui Eriksson scored his fourth goal of the season 56 seconds into the period to even the game up. Momentum was changing, but not if Tyler Sloan could say anything about it. Eriksson turned it over in the offensive zone and Viktor Kozlov (we missed you) scooped up the puck and had a 2 on 2 with Sloan on his left. They criss-crossed halfway through the offensive zone (looked choreographed) and when Koz's rebound went straight to Sloan, he put it away for his first career NHL goal.

Marty Turco had a shaky game in net for the Stars. He made a few big saves down the stretch, but JT60's performance out did him. Turco does not look like himself this year as his GAA is up by 2 goals from last year, and his save percentage is down 6%.

Dallas wouldn't give up just yet. Down by 1 with one minute left, they pulled Turco and charged ahead. The Stars dumped the puck behind Turco and out-worked the Capitals to win the puck along the boards. With his head up, Brendan Morrow found Mike Modano wide open infront of the net for the equalizer.

The Caps did not look fatigued in Overtime, and continued to press. Boyd Gordon won the puck down low and handed it off to Semin. Semin's pass to the middle was broken up and came right back to him. Out of options, he threw (shot) the puck at the net. It painted the upper corner and slipped beneath the cross-bar and over the blocker pad of Turco. Caps players dog-piled on-top of Semin as the Capitals celebrated "instant victory."

Quick hits:

• Let's give a big "Hip-Hip Hooray!" to Tyler Sloan, who scored his first NHL goal and is quickly turning into a fan favorite.
  
• Donald Brashear returned to action and got into a scrap with former Capitals draft pick (4th round, 1998) Krys Barch. Advantage: Brashear
• The Capitals gave up three goals within 1 minute of the end/start of the period, including the game-tying goal with 56 seconds left.
• Sergei Fedorov passed Alexander Mogilny for most career goals by a Russian. Federov now leads Russain-born players in every major offensive stat category.
• Tomas Fleishmann scored two goals in one game for the second time in his career. Capitals fans haven't like Flash this much since last March.
• Alex Semin scored again for his seventh goal of the year. Caps fans will be happy to know that he is on pace for 71 goals. This just in: Semin took a hooking penalty (really? that doesn't sound like him...)
  
• Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom both picked up an assist in the game, but Backis still has not scored a goal this year, while Ovechkin's only two tallies came in the first home game of the season.
• Washington converted on 1/4 Power Play opportunites and killed off 3/4 of Dallas' extra-man chances.
• Although the game went to Overtime, Mike Green played 29 minutes. The next closest Cap was Ovechkin with 24 minutes of icetime.
• The Capitals were out-hit, 35-12.
• Boyd Gordon (replacement for the scratched David Steckel) won 13/17 face-offs. Expect him to be in the lineup on Tuesday against Nashville.

Predictions Revisited

Washington

Viktor Kozlov- 0 Goals, 1 Assist. Comments- I said he would score, but I'm pretty sure he is happy with assisting Tyler Sloan on his first NHL goal.

Mike Green- 0 Goals, 1 Assist. Comments- I said he would get a goal AND assist, but he only got an assist on the game-winning goal. He was a big factor skating almost 30 minutes.

Jose Thoedore- 28 saves. Comments- Huge game for Theo. He now has a winning record with Washington and his GAA is going down as his save percentage is going up.

Dallas

Mike Ribeiro- 0 Goals, 1 Assist. Comments- Ribeiro had a tough game assisting on only Loui Erikssons' goal at the beginning of the third period. The Caps did a great job holding Mike without a shot.

Sean Avery- 1 Goal, 1 Assist. Comments- Started the scoring in the first off a big rebound. He did pick up a high-sticking minor with five minutes left in the third period that could have cost the game for Dallas.

Brad Richards- 0 Goals, 0 Asissts. Comments- Richards was invisible out there. Some nights he decides to play, others he doesn't.


Final Thoughts- If you look back at the previous post, you'll see that I correctly predicted the game would need overtime (I'm getting good at this!). I also said Fabian Brunnstrom would score. Although I did not guess the winning team, every time I pick the Caps to win they lose, and everytime I think they will lose, they win...Check back on Tuesday to see who I think will win.

Pre-Game: Capitals @ Stars

The Washington Capitals (3-3-1) try to end a three-game losing streak and salvage their west-coast road trip as they take on the Stars in Dallas. The last time the Caps won in the Lone Star State was 3-2 in OT on December 28, 2001. Since then, the Capitals are 1-5 against Dallas with a -15 goal differential.

The Caps will start (re)emerging star, Jose Theodore in net who has put up a 2.04 GAA on the road trip, while compiling both the loses. Although Jarome Iginla's goal probably should have been stopped, Jose has been spectacular the past few games and was the reason the Caps had a chance to win against Calgary and Phoenix.

On the other hand, the 3-4-1 Dallas Stars will put struggling star, Marty Turco in net tonight. Marty has picked up all seven decisions and has a GAA of over 4 and a save percentage of under .850 (ouch!). But he his facing the Caps, a team that he has never lost to (3-0, 1.21 GAA).

Washington has good news as Victor Kozlov returns to the lineup tonight. Although not 100%, Koz's absence has been felt on the first line as Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin have combined for only six points through the first seven games. John Erskine is also back in the lineup after missing the Coyotes game. He will be paired with Milan Jurcina along the back line (according to Capitals Insider).

The key for the Capitals is again going to be the Power Play. The Caps are 6/36 (16.7% )with the extra man, which is about ten percent lower than what they are capable of. Although the PP is struggling, the Penalty Kill should not be overlooked. Washington has allowed the most power play goals (tie) this season and will be without penalty killer, David Steckel who along with Eric Fehr will be healthy scratches.

Tonight's game would be a good time to improve those dismal numbers as Dallas ranks near the bottom of the league in the Power Play (15.8%) and the Penalty Kill (77.5%).

Predictions:

Washington

Victor Kozlov- 1 Goal, 0 Assists. Comments- Although not completley healthy, Koz on the first line is a much better idea than sticking Chris Clark up there.

Mike Green- 1 Goal, 1 Assist. Comments- Look for "Game Over" to get back on track tonight. Both his points will come on the re-vamped Power Play.

Jose Theodore- 24 Saves. Comments- JT60 with another great game. Without him, this game could get a little lob-sided.

Dallas

Mike Ribeiro- 1 Goal, 2 Assists. Comments- This guy is the real deal, coming of a 5-point night against the Islanders, he's going to get on the board early and often.

Sean Avery- 0 Goals, 0 Assists. Comments- It's Sean Avery, he's going to be a problem for the opposing team every night.

Brad Richards- 0 Goals, 2 Assists. Comments- The former Tampa-Bay Lightning forward has 29 career points against the Caps, and is going to rack up a few more tonight on the Power Play.

Final Score

Washington 3 Dallas 4 (OT)

Comments- The Capitals WILL get their Power Play back on track, BUT Marty Turco is just too much for the Capitals tonight. His outlet pass to Rookie of the Year candidate, Fabian Brunnstrom will end the game in Overtime.

NHL Image of the Night- October 23rd

Sean Avery sends Sean Bergenheim air-born during the Dallas Stars 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders in Uniondale, NY. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.