Capitals look to tighten discipline as Stars visit

The Washington Capitals host the Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. It's the first of two Capitals-Stars meetings this season. Washington is trying to shake off a penalty-filled 5-1 loss to Minnesota that turned a close game into a rout. Read more: Capitals look to tighten discipline as Stars visit

Related: Behind the glass: Wild 5, Capitals 1 — Wild catch Caps flat-footed

Penalty trouble sealed the loss

Washington is 8-5-0 with 16 points, sitting third in the Metropolitan Division. But Sunday's loss to the Wild was its worst game of the season. The Capitals took six penalties for 20 minutes, ten times Minnesota's total, and two of those minors overlapped in the final minute of the third period.

Tom Wilson was called for cross-checking Joel Eriksson Ek and then drew a misconduct on top of it. Seventeen seconds later, Timothy Liljegren was whistled for delay of game on a puck over the glass. So the two penalties stacked into a 5-on-3 for the final stretch.

Minnesota finished 2 for 5 on the power play, a 40 percent clip. Logan Thompson also allowed five goals on 28 shots in the loss, Washington's second defeat in its last five games.

Still, how well the Capitals stay out of the box tonight will go a long way toward deciding whether that was a one-game slip or the start of a trend.

Related: Penalties bury Capitals in lopsided loss to Wild

Oettinger anchors the Stars

Meanwhile, Dallas is 8-5-1 with 17 points, one ahead of Washington, and arrives off a 3-1 win over Columbus. The Stars, however, have alternated winning and losing stretches all season. After beating Winnipeg and the Islanders, they dropped back-to-back games to New Jersey and Montreal.

In fact, Jake Oettinger is 7-3-1 with a 1.63 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage and three shutouts, numbers that lead every goaltender on either roster by a wide margin.

Yet neither team had named a starting goaltender as of Tuesday afternoon. Daily Faceoff projected Thompson, who is 5-4-0 with a 2.93 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage, for Washington, and Oettinger for Dallas, both marked unconfirmed.

Charlie Lindgren (3-1-0, 2.98 GAA, .888 save percentage) backs up Thompson. Casey DeSmith (1-2-0, 2.94 GAA, .888 save percentage) backs up Oettinger.

Washington is missing defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Rasmus Sandin, both on injured reserve after surgery, along with center Patrick Thomas. Dallas is without defensemen Kyle Capobianco and Luke Krys and centers Oskar Back and Matt Duchene, all on injured reserve.

The game airs on MNMT in the Washington market and on ESPN+ nationally. Dallas games stream on Prime Video this season after the Stars moved off Victory+, which shut down over the summer.

DraftKings lists Dallas as a -108 moneyline favorite over Washington, with the Stars -1.5 on the puck line and the Capitals +1.5. The total sits at 5.5.

If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

The Capitals-Stars series continues Dec. 15 in Dallas, the second of two meetings this season.