The Upset Sports

A DFW-centric sports subscription site.

Main navigation

Benn and Radulov Score but Stars Bested by Capitals 4-3 in OT

by Leave a Comment

Ken Hitchcock’s career 800th win is becoming more elusive by the day. The Stars faced a team in the Washington Capitals that they have had enormous success over in Dallas, but came up short losing 4-3 in overtime. Ben Bishop finished with 24 saves on 28 shots.

The game featured multiple scuffles with Antoine Roussel getting under the skin of the Capitals. Roussel scraped with Jakub Vrana to give Washington their first power play. He then went after Tom Wilson in the second period, who in turn took issue with Alexander Radulov crashing into Capitals goaltender Brayden Holtby while the Stars were on the power play.

Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring in the game with a goal from a 3-on-2 rush. The Stars’ habit of tempting fate against high-powered teams showed itself in the first period. They committed two completely avoidable penalties, the second of which nearly cost them heading into the first intermission. Ben Bishop caught the puck in his glove with about four seconds left and attempted to fling it to the side boards. It ended up flying into the air, and bouncing off of Bishop’s back nearly into the net. Esa Lindell was close by and cleared the puck to stave off disaster. A power play goal from Stars captain Jamie Benn had the game knotted up after one period.

Gemel Smith scored in the second period, his second goal in two games. The Stars worked hard for a zone keep, and Dan Hamhuis’ shot from the point found Smith in the slot for two chances in close. He followed up his rebound with a slick move to beat Brayden Holtby. Not to be outdone in the highlight reel, Dmitry Orlov scored on the rush when he toe dragged John Klingberg out of his skates and beat Bishop Short side.

It looked like the Stars were about to celebrate a victory when Radulov scored from the slot with four minutes left in the game. On the next shift, Brett Connolly recorded his second point and a goal of his own from the slot to send the game to overtime. The Stars had their chances, but a bad turnover committed by Jason Spezza gave Connolly the window to pick up his third point and end the game when he beat Bishop again.

Play of the Game

Dmitry Orlov’s goal in the second period was a thing to behold. He showed off all the handles that defenseman don’t usually possess and tied the game up. In the process, he gave John Klingberg something to think about long after the game ended. It was the kind of goal that makes opposing fans drop their jaws in awe rather than respond in anger.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Andre Burakovsky (2 G, 1 A) – Burakovsky tallied three points and had the game winning goal in overtime.

2. Brett Connolly (1 G, 1 A) – Connolly had the response to Alexander Radulov’s late third period goal. It deflated the building and sent the game into overtime.

3. Dan Hamhuis (1 A) – In a game in which every Star committed some type of mistake, Hamhuis committed none. The boxscore doesn’t show it, but he was probably the best player for the Stars.

The Goals

First Period

10:35 Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the right circle. He was set up on the 3-on-2 rush by Brett Connolly. Stars 0, Capitals 1

15:14 Jamie Benn got enough of the puck to redirect John Klingberg’s shot from the point on the power play. The Stars lost the initial face-off but pressured with the forecheck to set Klingberg up from the high point. It was the first power play goal for the Stars captain in 20 games. Stars 1, Capitals 1

Second Period

11:09 Gemel Smith picked up an unassisted goal to give the Stars the lead. After some excellent effort from all five skaters to keep the puck in the zone, Smith followed his own rebound in the slot to score his fourth goal of the year. Stars 2, Capitals 1

13:12 Dmitry Orlov completely undressed John Klingberg with a toe drag and beat Ben Bishop short side to tie the game up. Stars 2, Capitals 2

Third Period

15:53 Alexander Radulov beat Brayden Holtby from the slot on a rush that gave the Stars the lead late in the game. Greg Pateryn made an excellent neutral zone pass to set up the play. Stars 3, Capitals 2

16:34 One shift later, Brett Connolly was in the slot and took a centering pass from Andre Burakovsky to beat Ben Bishop five hole. Stars 3, Capitals 3 

Overtime

1:51 Brett Connolly scored his second goal of the game to send the Stars home with a loss. Jason Spezza committed a tough turnover when his linemate was leaving the zone early to set up Connolly’s goal. Stars 3, Capitals 4

Capitals lineup
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Chandler Stephenson — Jay Beagle — Alex Chiasson

Matt Niskanen — Dmitry Orlov
Brooks Orpik — John Carlson
Madison Bowey — Christian Djoos

Brayden Holtby
Phillip Grubauer

Scratched: Taylor Chorney, Devante Smith-Pelly

Injured: None

Stars lineup
Remi Elie — Jamie Benn — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Tyler Seguin — Devin Shore
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Gemel Smith — Martin Hanzal — Jason Spezza

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns — Julius Honka

Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen

Scratched: Brett Ritchie

Injured: Marc Methot (knee)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply