Quick third-period goals lift Stars past Capitals
Antoine Roussel and Jamie Benn scored 16 seconds apart in the third period, and the Dallas Stars edged the Washington Capitals 5-4 on Saturday night after losing a 3-0 lead.
Roussel broke a 3-3 tie 3:14 into the third by tapping in the puck from left of the net. Benn added his goal at 3:30.
Tyler Seguin, Erik Cole and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist, and Jyrki Jokipakka added two assists for Dallas.
Alex Ovechkin’s breakaway goal 21 seconds into the third period helped Washington rally from a three-goal deficit. Nicklas Backstrom, Eric Fehr and Andre Burakovsky also scored for Washington.
Backstrom’s 14th goal of the season with 3:26 remaining made it 5-4; he one-timed a pass from Ovechkin from the slot.
The Stars led 3-0 early in the second period. Seguin scored his NHL-leading 27th goal of the season with Dallas on the power play 2:26 into the first period, beating Peters with a wrist shot from the slot that traveled in under his right shoulder. It was only Seguin’s second goal in 12 games.
Cole redirected a Jokipakka wrist shot from near the Capitals blue line with 1:42 remaining in the first. After a review to determine if Cole’s stick was above the crossbar when he touched the puck, his 11th goal of the season was ruled good. Spezza scored his eighth of the season by tapping in a pass from Cole off the rush 4:13 into the second.
Washington scored 1:17 later when Fehr beat Lehtonen through the five-hole from the right circle for his 14th goal of the season.
The Capitals made it 3-2 with 3:44 left in the second when Burakovsky roofed a wrist shot into the far side, scoring over Lehtonen’s left shoulder from the edge of the left circle.
Washington tied it 21 seconds into the third period when Ovechkin scored his 25th goal of the season on a breakaway. Backstrom blocked a shot by Alex Goligoski and the carom fell to Ovechkin in the neutral zone. Ovechkin finished with a wrist shot over Lehtonen’s left pad.
This story was originally published January 17, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Quick third-period goals lift Stars past Capitals."