Two teams in the bottom half of the NHL in scoring early this season looked the part Tuesday, as the Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals battled in a low-scoring affair at American Airlines Center.
The Stars (5-3-1) narrowly edged out the Capitals (6-4-0) 1-0 Tuesday night to extend their latest winning streak to three games. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger posted his first shutout of the season in the win.
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In this young season, the Stars have proven streaky, beginning the season on a three-game winning streak, before losing four in a row and then winning their last three.
A power-play goal by Tyler Seguin was the difference, but the Capitals were responsible for putting the puck in the net. Forty-three seconds into the second period, Seguin’s pass was deflected by Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary into the net.
The Stars have now scored power play goals in four straight games. Dallas finished 1 for 4 on the power play Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, the Dallas penalty kill held Washington off the board on three tries. The Stars committed the game’s first penalty halfway through the first period and had one of their most aggressive kills of the season, setting the tone for the game.
Dallas played a strong defensive game, holding Washington to 24 shots, while capitalizing on just 19 shots on Washington goalie Logan Thompson.
The Stars nearly made it 2-0 midway through the third period, but Capitals forward Nic Dowd batted the puck away from the goal line before it crossed.
Dallas also played Tuesday’s game with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Oskar Back, who missed the first eight games of the season with an injury, returned for Sunday’s game against Nashville, but was ruled day-to-day and missed Tuesday’s matchup.
Matt Duchene missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. Roope Hintz missed his second consecutive game. Both Duchene and Hintz were injured on hits in games.
Defenseman Kyle Capobianco, who was called up from the Texas Stars over the weekend, entered the lineup for the first time this season to complete the Stars’ lineup.
The Stars will travel to Florida next for games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers on Thursday and Saturday.
Twitter: @lassimak