STARS REBOUND FROM OPENING NIGHT COLLAPSE, DOWN CAPS
The Dallas Stars recovered quickly from their third period collapse on opening night, capturing a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals at the American Airlines Center. Erik Cole and Alex Chiasson tallied goals for Dallas while Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 of 26 shots.
One of the biggest concerns about the Stars entering the season was their ability to close out games with a third period lead. Those fears were exacerbated in the opener against Florida; an all-around subpar game for Dallas despite taking a 2-1 lead early in the third. Last night, however, the Stars did an outstanding job of slamming the door with a one-goal lead in the final period. Dallas limited Washington to six shots (26 overall) in the final stanza.
Reigning Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin is off to a scorching start to the 2013-14 regular season. He put the Capitals ahead at 3:25 of the first period, taking a setup pass from Mike Green and blasting a one-time from the left circle past Lehtonen.
A little less than five minutes later, at the 8:01 mark, COle tied the game at 1-1. Tyler Seguin set Cole up in the slot with a backhanded pass from behind the goal line. Cole quickly wristed a shot past Braden Holtby.
The score held until the latter half of the second period. Washington seemingly took a 2-1 lead near the midway mark of the period but had a would-be goal by Nicklas Bäckström waved off for interference because the forward's stick made contact with Lehtonen's head on the play.
The Stars took a 2-1 lead at the 12:07 mark of the second period. Cody Eakin snapped a shot on net, and Chiasson knocked the rebound past Holtby. The goal was Chiasson's second of the season and his eighth in nine career NHL games.
Dallas survived a pair of penalty kills against the dangerous Capitals attack in the third period. The closest Washington came to scoring again came early in the third period when Brooks Laich went in alone and hit the crossbar.
Dallas did a solid job thereafter in closing out the punctuated by a final save by Lehtonen on Bäckström as time was about to expire. For the game, Dallas was outshot by a 26-21 margin.
The Stars will now have a five-day break until their next game. Dallas visits the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
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