Mikko Rantanen’s goal at 14:50 of the second period answered the game’s first disruption. Washington had finally put a dent in Dallas’s 4-0 start, and Rantanen restored the four-goal margin by making it 5-1. The Dallas Stars had shown they could absorb a change in the score and create distance again.
They did it once more. They did not find a third answer.
Dallas defeated Washington 6-5 Tuesday at Capital One Arena, a result that will travel home to Sherman and the North Texas Stars audience with two distinctly different impressions attached. The first is encouraging: Dallas repeatedly grew its lead after Washington made the game less comfortable. The second is less tidy: when the margin became one, the Stars could only protect it.
Rantanen’s goal is the clearest example of the first skill. His only shot on goal of the night deflected off Charlie Lindgren’s stick and became the 800th point of his NHL career. The milestone belongs in the record book, but its immediate value to Dallas was on the scoreboard. After Washington had broken through, Rantanen gave the Stars their largest advantage again.
That cushion did not survive the period. Boone Jenner scored at 16:58 to make it 5-2, and Jakob Chychrun followed at 19:30 for a 5-3 score. Those two Washington goals came in the final 3:02 of the second period, compressing Dallas’s margin just before the intermission.
The Stars had answered one problem by widening the gap; they had not drained enough time to make the remaining game feel settled.
This is where regrouping and closing part company. Regrouping changes the scoreboard after a damaging sequence. Closing requires the lead to remain useful while the clock becomes the main opponent. Dallas had demonstrated the former with Rantanen. Washington’s late second-period push showed that the latter still needed a cleaner demonstration.
Roope Hintz supplied another answer early in the third. His attempt came 1:23 into the period, caught a deflection off Martin Fehervary and went past Lindgren for a 6-3 Dallas lead. The goal arrived after Washington had taken two goals back and restored three-goal separation before the Capitals could carry that surge any farther.
Hintz finished with one goal and two assists, including secondary assists on Jason Robertson goals. His larger contribution to the night’s shape was the timing of that third-period finish. Dallas did not enter the final frame with a comfortable lead and simply watch it disappear. It rebuilt the margin first.
Again, the repair was temporary. Justin Sourdif made it 6-4 at 12:55 when the puck came off Anthony Beauvillier’s shot, then off Jake Oettinger before rolling in. Washington had not needed a sequence of goals to reopen the game. One score reduced Dallas’s room to maneuver, leaving the Stars with a two-goal lead and 7:05 remaining.
Ryan Leonard’s goal at 18:58 brought the Capitals within one. Washington had an extra attacker, and the score became 6-5 with 1:02 left. Dallas’s final goal had arrived early in the period, so the Stars had to manage the closing stretch without another burst of separation.
