Stars' three power-play goals fuel victory over Capitals
The Dallas Stars made the most of their suddenly potent power play.
Vernon Fiddler notched a goal and an assist, and the Stars scored three man-advantage goals to beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Friday night.
Shawn Horcoff and Tyler Seguin also scored on the power play, and Colton Sceviour added a goal as Dallas completed its season-high, five-game road trip with three straight victories. The Stars won four of five overall.
Dallas, which entered the game ranked 19th in the NHL on the power play, went 3-for-6 in this game.
"Our power-play unit could be even better," said Dallas left wing Jamie Benn, who had an assist on one extra-man goal. "Our special teams did a pretty good job out there. It's just taking advantage of those opportunities. They can make such a big difference in the game, and they definitely did tonight."
The three power-play goals are the second most the Stars have scored in a game this season. They netted four in a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg on Jan. 31.
Dallas killed all three Washington power plays.
"Our special teams have been good," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "The penalty-killing tonight was good. We didn't give a very good power play much on the entries, and once they were in there, I think (Alex) Ovechkin had maybe one or two shots."
Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves and has won six consecutive games versus the Capitals. The Stars have beaten Washington seven straight times.
Curtis Glencross and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals. Braden Holtby stopped 18 of 22 shots before being replaced after Fiddler made it 4-1 in the second period. Justin Peters stopped all nine shots he faced in relief.
Dallas started quickly, recording the first six shots and holding Washington to one for over nine minutes.
The Stars finished with a 31-20 edge in shots.
Dallas took a 1-0 lead on Horcoff's power-play goal 3:25 into the game. His shot deflected off Glencross and went over Holtby's right shoulder.
Glencross tied it for Washington before the Stars took the lead back when Sceviour scored for the first time in 17 games and gave Dallas a 2-1 lead after one period.
The Stars added two more power-play goals in the second period. Seguin got the first before Fiddler added the next for a 4-1 lead with 5:55 left.
Washington coach Barry Trotz then replaced Holtby with Peters, who hadn't played since Feb. 15.
Kuznetsov added a late goal for Washington. Alex Ovechkin earned his 418th NHL assist, which tied him with teammate Nicklas Backstrom and Michal Pivonka for first place in team history.
The Capitals have lost six of nine. Trotz told his players that they are going to have to work out their problems internally -- a reason the team held a closed-door meeting after the game.
"It has to happen within the room," Trotz said. "The group has to solve it. They have to solve it, and I'm part of it. Let's get going here."
The Stars want to keep playing when they head home for four consecutive games. Dallas is 19-14-2 on the road but just 13-13-8 at home.
"It's going to be nice to get home, get in your own bed and get some rest," Fiddler said. "We're going to have to go home and keep that same mentality we have on the road of keeping things simple."
NOTES: Capitals D Brooks Orpik missed his second straight game due to an undisclosed injury. He played in Washington's first 67 games. ... The Capitals recalled C Andre Burakovsky from Hershey of the AHL and reassigned D Cameron Schilling there. Burakovsky was in the lineup and had one assist. ... The Stars have won four straight in Washington. . Dallas RW Ales Hemsky tied a season high with two assists.
