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Jamie Benn and Radek Faksa suffer minor injuries in Stars OT loss to Capitals

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DALLAS — The Dallas Stars wanted to send Radek Faksa out for the opening face-off of overtime in a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals, but the center was unavailable because of a lower-body injury.

“Faksa had the best (faceoff percentage), but he wasn’t available he had gone back to the dressing room,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “So we went with (Jason) Spezza and too defensemen in case we lost the draw. And our defense got outmuscled, just straight out outmuscled.”

It was a fatal mistake, and Jay Beagle scored the game-winning goal just 19 seconds into overtime.

Faksa was back on the bench after the game, so it appears to be a minor injury.

Stars captain Jamie Benn also suffered an injury in the game and broke his nose on a high-stick by Dmitry Orlov in the second period.

Benn returned in the third period with a visor. Benn has played most of his career without a visor.

Postgame video

Fourth line clicks

Brett Ritchie, Adam Cracknell, and Curtis McKenzie had traditional fourth-line minutes but still provided a spark.

Cracknell scored a goal by going hard to the net, Ritchie had a fight, and McKenzie had an assist as the Stars found the energy they were lacking in a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday.

That’s what Stars coach Lindy Ruff had been hoping for when he re-insterted McKenzie and Ritchie into the lineup for Jiri Hudler and Lauri Korpikoski.

McKenzie had been a healthy scratch in eight straight games, Ritchie had sat the last two and with Cracknell they formed a fourth line that made an impact.

Fight night

The Capitals and Stars don’t play that often, but tempers boiled in the first period.

In a span of three seconds Brett Ritchie fought Tom Wilson and Antoine Roussel fought Daniel Winnik. Less than a minute later Curtis McKenzie and Justin Williams traded slashes and appeared ready to fight before the referees disrupted the fracas.

After the game Jay Beagle assessed the situation, which gave the Stars physicality a bit too much credit.

“I just think it’s a matter of how they play. They play a hard game, I mean that was a fun game to be a part of. It was a battle, it was a grind, so. I think it’s just way they play. There a physical team, you know, big and all of a sudden a couple hits here and there. My two linemates decide to drop the gloves and I thought about it too just so I could get the whole line.”

The goals

First period

2:17 Ande Burakovsky scored on the third shot of the game. Kari Lehtonen made the first save and the puck sat in front of him for a couple of seconds before Brett Ritchie cleared it straight to the Capitals’ left win who scored his ninth goal of the season. Capitals 1, Stars 0

6:26 Adam Cracknell deflected Jordie Benn’s point shot past Philipp Grubauer. The puck hit the netting and immediately bounded out, but was ruled a good goal after a short review. Capitals 1, Stars 1

Second period

6:47 Patrick Eaves scored on a rebound after an initial shot by Patrik Nemeth. It was Nemeth’s first point of the season. Stars 2, Capitals 1

15:59 Jamie Benn scored on the power play. It was initially waived off for goalie interference, but then overturned. Stars 3, Capitals 1

Third period

3:28 Alexander Ovechkin scored on the power play from his trademarked spot on top of the circle. Stars 3, Capitals 2

5:26 T.J. Oshie scored his 17th goal of the season on a deflection. Stars 3, Capitals 3

Overtime

0:19 The Stars lost the opening face-off and Jay Beagle made them pay. Capitals 4, Stars 3

Capitals lineup

Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Justin Williams
Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Andre Burakovsky
Daniel Winnik — Jay Beagle — Tom Wilson

Karl Alzner — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Dmitry Orlov
Taylor Chorney — Nate Schmidt

Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby

Stars lineup

Jamie Benn — Cody Eakin — Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel — Jason Spezza — Tyler Seguin
Devin Shore — Radek Faksa — Patrick Sharp
Curtis Mckenzie — Adam Cracknell — Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Patrik Nemeth — Stephen Johns
Dan Hamhuis — Jordie Benn

Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi

Scratched: Lauri Korpikoski, Jiri Hudler, Julius Honka

Injured: Mattias Janmark (knee), Ales Hemsky (hip), Jamie Oleksiak (hand), Johnny Oduya (lower body)

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