Capitals dominate Stars, chase Holtby in 5-0 win
Capitals dominate Stars, chase Holtby in 5-0 win originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals went down to Texas for a Friday night affair against their former longtime goalie and came out with a rejuvenated offense and good feelings to end an otherwise disappointing month with a 5-0 win over the Dallas Stars.
With the victory on the back of the offense and a 29-save Vitek Vanecek shutout, the Capitals are now 24-12-9 on the season. They’ll have a few days off before a game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to begin February.
Here are a few takeaways from the night in Dallas:
A harsh greeting
The Capitals played former longtime goaltender Braden Holtby for the first time since he left the organization after the 2019-20 season. They didn’t take it easy on him.
Washington scored two power play goals and three in total in the first period on 19 shots as Holtby was bombarded right from the get-go. He finished the night having made 22 stops on 27 shots, and his night ended after the second period with the Capitals leading 5-0.
The Stars will come to Washington on Sunday, March 20, where Holtby will return to Capital One Arena for the first time in more than two years. There, if he’s in the net, he’ll hope for a better outing against his former team.
Offensive outburst
Washington’s five-goal game came during a rough offensive stretch.
The Capitals hadn’t scored five goals in a game prior to Friday in the entire month of January (11 games) and entering the night, had just 2.18 goals per game since the new year began.
The team made clear after recent games that they felt good looks were there offensively, they were just unable to bury them. And with two power play goals to go along with goals from up and down the lineup, they’re hopeful they turned the offense around.
A weird 90 seconds
If you were looking for fireworks early on, mission accomplished.
The Stars scored first, just 42 seconds into the game, to take a 1-0 lead — or so everyone thought.
Source : yahoo
