Fewest Shots Allowed in Hockey vs. a Caps Team Still Looking for Finish: Stars at Washington Tonight, 6 p.m. CT

By Nolan Frost, RF Sports Radio Stars voice

Stars fans, tonight is the only trip Dallas makes to D.C. all season, and it comes against a Capitals team that just spent Sunday afternoon firing pucks into shin pads. That is exactly the kind of opponent this Stars defense was built to frustrate.

The facts

Dallas (8-5-1) visits Washington (8-5-0) tonight at 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT, at Capital One Arena, per NHL.com. The Capitals' own preview calls the Stars "the NHL's most miserly defensive outfit." Dallas allows 2.14 goals per game, the fewest in the league, and also gives up the fewest shots, 22.3 per game. The Stars lead the league in faceoffs at 55.6% and on the penalty kill at 93.6%, per the Capitals.

Washington is 6-2-0 at home, per the AP, but lost the opener of this homestand 5-1 to Minnesota on Sunday. In that game the Caps missed the net on 19 shot attempts and had 20 more blocked, managing 27 shots on goal, per the team. Alex Tuch leads Washington with 10 goals.

Jake Oettinger is expected to start for Dallas, per Last Word on Sports. He is 7-3-1 with a 1.63 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage and three shutouts. Logan Thompson is the expected starter for Washington at 5-4, 2.93 and .898. Mikko Rantanen leads Dallas with seven goals and 17 points. Matt Duchene remains on injured reserve, per Inside The Rink. The Stars finish this two-game trip Thursday at Columbus before a four-game homestand, per the Capitals.

One off-ice note: the NHL and Fanatics unveiled the Stars' Hometown Remix collection on Monday, with a Dallas-skyline look that brings back neon green, per Inside The Rink.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: this is the perfect matchup for what Dallas does well. Washington is coming off a game where it could not get pucks through, and now it faces the team that allows the fewest shots in hockey. If the Stars win the faceoff battle the way they usually do, the Caps will spend a lot of the night chasing.

But I keep coming back to the same worry. The Stars do not score enough to win ugly games by accident. When a hot goalie shows up, a 1-0 lead feels like a 1-0 deficit. Rantanen and Johnston have to drive play, and the power play has to cash in when Washington takes penalties.

My prediction is a tight, low-scoring game, and I think Oettinger is the difference. Dallas wins if it gets the first goal.

What to watch next

Watch the first 10 minutes. If Washington is getting to the net early, Dallas is in a fight. For the full numbers on this team's split personality, read our Nov. 2 Stars-Capitals numbers preview, and follow the season on our Dallas Stars page.

Radio question: is the Stars' defense good enough to keep winning low-scoring games, or does the offense have to wake up before it costs them?

Sources: Washington Capitals (NHL.com) - Caps continue homestand Tuesday vs. Stars; NHL.com - Dallas Stars at Washington Capitals gamecenter, Nov. 3, 2026; AP News - Capitals and Stars square off for out-of-conference matchup; Last Word on Sports - NHL predictions: Stars versus Capitals, Nov. 3; Inside The Rink - Dallas Stars at Washington Capitals preview, Nov. 3, 2026.