By The Canadian Press

Stars end losing streak with 4-1 win over Capitals

Jan 8, 2026 | 12:58 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — Radek Faksa scored a shorthanded goal, Casey DeSmith made 23 saves and the Dallas Stars ended their losing streak at six games by defeating the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Wednesday night.

The Stars bounced back from a 6-3 drubbing at Carolina 24 hours earlier that included the Hurricanes chasing U.S. Olympic goaltender Jake Oettinger, winning for the first time since Dec. 21.

Faksa put Dallas up 1-0 just over three minutes in with Ilya Lyubushkin in the penalty box for holding, cashing in on his own rebound off Washington netminder Logan Thompson. Early in the second period, Canadian Olympic defenseman Thomas Harley made the play to set up Sam Steel’s net-front tap-in past Thompson

Steel assisted on Wyatt Johnston’s goal, his 24th of the season, with 6:29 left in regulation. Roope Hintz sealed it with an empty-netter with 18.6 seconds remaining.

Before that, Alex Ovechkin scored his 915th career goal, adding to his NHL record total, with 2:19 left and Thompson pulled for an extra attacker. It was Ovechkin’s 18th goal of the season at age 40.

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CANADIENS 4, FLAMES 1

MONTREAL (AP) — Alexandre Texier had a goal and two assists, Jacob Fowler made 28 saves and Montreal beat Calgary.

Lane Hutson, Oliver Kapanen and Cole Caufield also scored to help Montreal improve to 24-13-6.

Joel Farabee scored for Calgary, and Dustin Wolf stopped 31 shots. The Flames dropped to 18-21-4.

Texier opened the scoring 3:10 into the second period when he took the puck at the goal line and roofed it over Wolf’s shoulder.

After Phillip Danault’s chance out of the penalty box, Texier got the puck back to him, and Danault found Hutson alone in the slot. Hutson fired a slap shot past Wolf. Just 1:07 later, Kapanen finished off a rebound to make it 3-0.

Farabee beat Fowler with a shot from the left circle with 2:21 left in the second.

Caufield took a Texier pass and fired a rolling puck past Wolf for his 21st goal 3:56 into the third period.

MAMMOTH 3, SENATORS 1

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lawson Crouse and John Marino scored in a 3:21 span in the first period, Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves and Utah beat Ottawa to cap a big day for the franchise.

The Mammoth won hours after the NHL announced the team will host the 2027 Winter Classic at the University of Utah’s football stadium.

Clayton Keller assisted on the first-period goals, and Daniil But also scored. The Mammoth opened a seven-game homestand, rebounding from a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Monday night.

Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa, and Leevi Merilainen stopped 18 shots. Greig has scored in all four games he has played against Utah.

Crouse opened the scoring from the slot at 3:59, and Marino scored off a rebound at 7:20. Greig scored through a crowd in front for Ottawa with 2:19 left in the opening period.

But made it 3-1 at 5:41 of the third on a wild scramble in front. The goal survived a video review for goalie interference.

BLACKHAWKS 7, BLUES 3

CHICAGO (AP) — Oliver Moore and Connor Murphy scored during Chicago’s four-goal second period, and the Blackhawks beat St. Louis for its fourth consecutive win.

Moore, Murphy, Louis Crevier and Landon Slaggert each had a goal and an assist as Chicago improved to 2-1-0 against St. Louis this season. Spencer Knight made 27 saves and Nick Lardis, Jason Dickinson and Andre Burakovsky also scored.

Chicago went 3 for 4 on the power play, while St. Louis was 0 for 5 with the man advantage. The Blackhawks are 8 for 8 on the penalty kill during their win streak.

Tyler Tucker, Otto Stenberg and Nathan Walker scored for St. Louis in the opener of a three-game trip. Jordan Binnington stopped 28 shots.

Chicago grabbed control in the second. Stenberg tied it at 2 with his first career goal at 8:22, but the Blackhawks regained the lead 35 seconds later on Murphy’s first of the season.

Slaggert got a piece of Colton Dach’s shot at 12:27, and Dickinson made it 5-2 when he redirected Crevier’s shot for his fifth goal with 2:36 left in the period.

Burakovsky added a power-play goal 5:11 into the third. It was his first goal since Dec. 20 and No. 10 on the season.

SHARKS 4, KINGS 3, OT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — William Eklund scored 3:08 into overtime, Macklin Celebrini had the tying goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 12 games, and San Jose defeated Los Angeles.

Celebrini evened the score at 3 with 1:07 remaining in regulation. He deked his way past Warren Foegele and sent a wrist shot through traffic that beat goalie Darcy Kuemper through the legs for his 24th goal this season. The 19-year-old center has nine goals and 15 assists during his point streak.

Celebrini is tied for the third-longest point streak by a teenager in NHL history — joining Joe Sakic in 1988-89, Jimmy Carson in 1987-88 and Wayne Gretzky in 1979-80 — and the third-longest point streak in Sharks history.

Tyler Toffoli and Adam Gaudette each had a goal, Yaroslav Askarov made 23 saves and the Sharks won for the fifth time in six games.

Alex Turcotte and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who still haven’t won three straight games since winning four in a row in mid-November. Alex Laferriere also scored and Kuemper made 24 saves.

Laferriere put the Kings ahead with 2:10 left in the third period, but they couldn’t prevent another sensational play by the electric Celebrini.

The Associated Press