WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals will look to extend their franchise-record home winning streak to 16 games when they host a team with one of the league's worst road records Monday night at Verizon Center.
The Dallas Stars, winners of just eight games away from American Airlines Center this season, travel to Washington after snapping a six-game road losing streak with a 2-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
John Klingberg scored with 1:07 remaining and Kari Lehtonen had a season-high 41 saves for Dallas, which improved to 8-18-4 on the road.
"I don't think we're too much thinking about our record or how we played lately on the road," Lehtonen told NHL.com after the win. "Just come here and compete and everyone work hard, and just work for each other. Don't really think about the score or past results, and tonight it worked."
Jamie Benn also scored and Tyler Seguin had two assists for Dallas (25-29-10), which has won 4 of 6 overall.
Dallas allowed fewer than two goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 17, a stretch of 32 games.
Winger Remi Elie, the Stars' second-round pick in the 2013 draft, made his NHL debut against the Panthers, logging 15:29 and getting two shots on goal.
"I thought he played excellent," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff told the team's website. "He had three or four opportunities, was hard on the puck. He played a good game for us."
On Saturday night, the league-leading Capitals (44-13-7) found themselves locked in a scoreless tie after two periods for the second straight game. The Philadelphia Flyers took a 1-0 lead early in the third before Dmitry Orlov tied it and Nicklas Backstrom won it with a power-play goal in overtime.
Washington killed off six power plays and, for the second straight game, grinded out a win against a defensive-minded team that clogged the middle of the ice.
"When teams are doing that it's tough to do anything off the rush," Jay Beagle said. "We've just got to get it behind them and kind of get gritty, ugly goals. It's not going to be pretty off the rush."
Braden Holtby stopped 30 shots. He's 19-0-2 with five shutouts, a 1.67 goals against average and a .937 save percentage in his last 23 games.
During their home winning streak, the Capitals outscored opponents 67-21 and posted six shutouts.
Playing with one day of rest, as they will be Monday night, Washington is 30-2-2 on the season.
Backstrom earned 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists) in his last 27 games. Newcomer Kevin Shattenkirk picked up his first point when he assisted on Backstrom's game-winner.
Washington got its second-leading goal scorer, T.J. Oshie, back against the Flyers after he missed four games with an upper-body injury, and he provided a screen on Backstrom's game-winner.
"Honestly, I thought I was going to be a little more tired and my legs weren't (going to) be under me, but I felt great," Oshie said of his return. "I felt from the drop of the puck my legs were going. Hands weren't catching up, but by the end they started feeling a little bit better."
This is the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams. The Capitals won the first game, 4-3 in overtime, in Dallas on Jan. 21 on Beagle's goal.
Lehtonen is 17-6-3 with a 2.63 GAA against the Capitals. Sequin has eight goals and four assists in 18 games versus Washington, while Benn has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 games.
Holtby is 0-3 with a 4.42 GAA in four games against Dallas. Alex Ovechkin, who broke a four-game scoring drought with an assist against the Flyers, has eight goals and three assists in 13 games versus the Stars, while Backstrom has 11 points in 11 games.
Former Wester Conference residents Justin Williams and Oshie have 16 goals and 14 assists in 37 games, and 10 and 12 in 25 games against Dallas, respectively.
