Roope Hintz scored twice and rookie Lian Bichsel scored the second of his career as the Dallas Stars (19-11-0) beat the Washington Capitals 3-1. The Stars’ home record, 13-3-0, is now the second-best in the NHL, behind only the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are 14-4-0. For the Capitals, this loss ends a 10-game winning streak on the road, which was only two games shy of the NHL record.
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Goaltenders Jake Oettinger, and Charlie Lindgren, who both attended Lakeville North High School in Minnesota, bailed their teams out over and over again, stopping the puck 25 and 21 times respectively.
Game Recap
Despite being outshot 8-7, Washington controlled play for the majority of the opening 20 minutes. At 15:39, Dylan Strome took advantage of a strong period, tipping a shot from Jakob Chychrun in front of the net to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.
The second period was the battle of the special teams. The Stars continued their superior penalty killing at home, shutting the Capitals’ power play down twice in the second, going a perfect 4/4 in the game. They had PP chances of their own, with Roope Hintz converting on the first at 13:28, snapping a Jamie Benn pass past Lindgren to tie the game 1-1. The Stars went 1-for-2 with the man advantage on the night. Dallas’ defenseman Lian Bischsel scored the second goal of his three-game career four minutes later, deflecting a shot from the blue line off Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin.
Hintz sealed the victory with five minutes left, scoring his second of the contest. Jason Robertson had two assists on the night, making it five points in the last five games for the Stars’ winger.
The Capitals will be on a plane to Chicago tonight to take on the Blackhawks tomorrow (Dec. 17), and the Stars will host the Maple Leafs on Wednesday (Dec. 18).
