‘Roller Coaster Hockey’: Dallas Stars Hold Off Washington Capitals 6-5 After Building 4-0 Lead

WASHINGTON — The Dallas Stars led the Washington Capitals 4-0 on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena with less than six minutes gone in the second period. Washington scored five goals after that, the last one with 1:02 remaining, and Dallas held on for a 6-5 win.

Jason Robertson scored three times in a 5:20 span to start the second period for a natural hat trick and added an assist. Roope Hintz finished with a goal and two assists. Mikko Rantanen scored his eighth goal of the season, which was also the 800th point of his NHL career, and Joel Kiviranta scored the only goal of the first period.

At 9-5-1, the Stars are third in the Central Division with a .633 points percentage. They have won three of their past five games and have points in five consecutive road games, going 4-0-1 in that stretch.

Joel Kiviranta Scores on the First Shot

Kiviranta’s goal came at 8:56 of the first period on the first shot Dallas put on net. Radek Faksa hit the right post, the puck slid behind Washington goaltender Logan Thompson, and Kiviranta backhanded it into the open net.

“Obviously, wasn’t a great start from us until that,” Hintz said. “So that was huge, a huge goal for us that got us going.”

Faksa was back in the lineup Tuesday after missing four games with a lower-body injury. He was credited with the assist on Kiviranta’s goal, finished plus-1, and played 13:38.

On Oct. 27 and Oct. 29, the Stars lost at home to the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens by a combined 10-3. Dallas then beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday to close a six-game homestand before leaving for Washington.

“We have played roller coaster hockey lately, so we tried to keep pushing and get our game going,” Kiviranta said.

Four Goals by 5:43 of the Second Period

Robertson scored on the power play 23 seconds into the second period, at even strength at 3:18, and again at 5:43. Washington pulled Thompson after the third one. He allowed four goals on 11 shots, and Charlie Lindgren made nine saves the rest of the way.

Jordan Kyrou got Washington on the board at 11:00 of the second with a power-play goal, backhanding in the rebound of a Cole Hutson shot. Rantanen made it 5-1 at 14:50 when his snap shot deflected in off the knob of Lindgren’s stick.

That goal gave Rantanen 324 goals and 476 assists in the NHL, and he reached 800 points in his 731st game. He is the fourth Finnish player in league history with 800 points, following Teemu Selanne (1,457), Jari Kurri (1,398), and Saku Koivu (832). His eight goals this season tied Robertson for the team lead.

Washington scored twice in the final three minutes of the period. Boone Jenner beat Jake Oettinger five-hole with a low wrist shot from the right circle at 16:58, and Jakob Chychrun one-timed a power-play goal off a feed from Dylan Strome at 19:30 to make it 5-3.

Washington Gets Within One

Hintz scored 1:23 into the third period when a pass he intended for a teammate deflected off the left skate of Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary and popped in over Lindgren. Hintz has 8 goals and 6 assists during a nine-game point streak against Washington.

Anthony Beauvillier‘s shot hit Justin Sourdif and then Oettinger before rolling in at 12:55 of the third. With Lindgren pulled for an extra attacker, Ryan Leonard put a snap shot from the left circle into the top left corner at 18:58.

Washington pushed early in the game, and Dallas gave up zone time before Kiviranta scored.

“We knew this was a big boy game, a heavy game, and that’s their push,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “You’ve got two really good teams and it’s hard to dominate a game for 60 minutes. It was a back and forth game and their push came in the third.”

Oettinger made 20 saves on 25 shots and is 7-0-0 in his career against Washington. Kyrou had a goal and two assists, Chychrun and Leonard each had a goal and an assist, and Strome had two assists for the Capitals (8-6-0), who have lost two straight.

Washington outshot Dallas 25-22. The Stars won 34 of 57 faceoffs, blocked 18 shots, and went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Washington went 2-for-3. Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston had two assists apiece.

For Robertson, it was the first game of the season with that many goals going in at both ends.

“You never apologize for winning, but there are obviously some areas where we can improve,” Robertson said. “It’s tough to win on the road, so you take what you can get.”

Defenseman Miro Heiskanen did not return after Sourdif hit him into the boards early in the second period. The Stars listed it as an upper-body injury, and Gulutzan said Heiskanen would be reevaluated Wednesday.

Dallas is 9-1-0 against Washington since March 20, 2022.

The Stars finish the two-game trip Thursday against Columbus at Nationwide Arena at 6 p.m. CT on Prime Video. The Blue Jackets are 6-7-0.