Dallas, TX
Live updates: Washington Capitals vs Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena
Justin Sourdif gave Capitals fans one of the most fun individual efforts of the season, recording five points and scoring his first career hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Sourdif had fantastic chemistry with Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard in their first game together.
Now the question becomes – Can the Young Guns 2.0 keep it up against a usually-stingy, defensively stout Dallas Stars team?
With Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas out again due to injury, Brett Leason will make his season debut with the Capitals. Meanwhile, Dylan McIlrath will remain in the lineup.
The Stars come into on a six-game losing streak. Casey DeSmith will start in goal over Jake Oettinger while the Capitals will counter with Logan Thompson.
Puck drop for today’s game is scheduled for a little after 7:00 pm. The game’s national and on TNT.
I’m dedicating my work tonight to Callie. I love you, my sweet girl. 💔
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Lines
Washington Capitals
Beauvillier
Strome
Ovechkin
McMichael
Sourdif
Leonard
Dallas Stars
Duchene
Johnston
Rantanen
Tunnel shenanigans
1st Period
Puck is dropped. McMichael-Sourdif-Leonard and Fehervary-Carlson get the start.
Ilya Lyubushkin to the box for holding Jakob Chychrun at 2:44.
Stars’ Radek Faska goes 1 on 3 shorthanded and scores after Logan Thompson loses sight of a rebound. WHAT WAS THAT.
1-0 Dallas Stars
SHG: Radek Faksa (2). Assists: E. Lindell (14). Time: 3:06
Back to the power play and… Justin Sourdif gets tossed from the faceoff dot, starts screaming at the official, Connor McMichael comes in, says something, and he gets an unsportsmanlike doncut penalty, killing the rest of the team’s power play. You can tell Carbery is fuming.
The two teams are now playing four-on-four.
Puck bounces over Dylan Strome’s stick on a wide-open net down low after a great setup by John Carlson.
Stars are outshooting the Capitals 5-0, 5:30 into the first period.
Apparently Beck Malenstyn has returned to the Capitals because one of the commentators said he just made a play. Lmao. No one on the Capitals even wears no. 47.
Sam Steel ailing and holding his left arm after a big hit by Ethen Frank.
At intermission: The Stars lead 1-0. The Caps didn’t really do anything in the first period. They were there. They existed. But that was about it. Shots on goal are 10-8 Dallas.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
Ilya Lyubushkin and Brandon Duhaime throwing punches at each other after the play at 1:12. Lyubushkin is going down the tunnel due to a cut on his nose.
John Carlson… just watching a pass through the paint to his man, no stick lift or anything, just chillin.
2-0 Dallas Stars
Goal: Sam Steel (7). Assists: T. Harley (14), M. Duchene (6). Time: 2:37
Ryan Leonard fakes a dump-in and almost scores with a crazy shot to the far side from center ice.
Brandon Duhaime and Ilya Lyubushkin drop the gloves right off a faceoff at 12:53. Duhaime punches Lyubushkin about 5 times hard in the back of the helmet. Hope his knuckles are doing okay. The Caps crowd is finally into it, though.
Logan Thompson stops Roope Hintz on a two-on-none breakaway after Nic Dowd fails to get the puck deep. Caps look awful.
Mikko Rantanen slashes Justin Sourdif at 15:55. Caps going back to the power play.
At intermission: The Stars lead 2-0. Dallas leads in shots on goal 20 to 13.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
Anthony Beauvillier takes it hard to the net, and gets two opportunities but can’t whack the puck through.
Nic Dowd to the box for hooking at 4:57. The Caps look awful. Just listless. Can’t get anything going. A lot of standing around.
4 shots by the Stars on the power play. Thompson keeping the Caps close.
McMichael ices the puck at the end of the kill.
Caps have one shot on goal through the first 7:03 of the third period.
Jason Robertson rips one hard off the post. Thompson is flopping all over the place to keep the puck out.
McMichael and Duchene trade opportunities down the wing off the rush.
Beauvillier sends a horrible pass backwards to Matt Roy in the defensive zone, turnover to the Stars’ Steel, and Wyatt Johnston scores easily in front of the net. YIKES.
3-0 Dallas Stars
Goal: Wyatt Johnston (24). Assists: S. Steel (9). Time: 2:37
Caps pull Thompson with 2:26 remaining. Why not?
Alex Ovechkin scores his 915th career goal via a one-timer at the top of the left circle.
3-1 Dallas Stars
Goal: Alex Ovechkin (18). Assists: J. Carlson (23), J. Chychrun (17). Time: 17:41
Capitals pull Thompson again.
Timeout Washington with 1:20 remaining.
Comment below. Refresh for live updates during the game. The thread will be closed shortly after the game is completed.
The Dallas Cowboys boasted one of the best offenses in the NFL this past season, but it wasn’t enough to get them into the playoffs. Even with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and Javonte Williams, they were unable to make up for their porous defense, finishing the season 7-9-1.
This offseason, Dallas was on a mission to fix that defense. Jerry Jones vowed he would put in the work and while they might not have an elite unit, they definitely look improved on paper.
With the biggest moves this offseason done, let’s rank the position groups for the Cowboys, which begins with the most obvious strength.
Wide Receiver
CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are arguably the best duo in the game, which makes this the Cowboys’ strongest position on its own. Throw in Ryan Flournoy, who had a breakout season in 2025, and it looks even better.
Dallas has depth beyond this as well, with KaVontae Turpin, who had 396 yards receiving last year, as their WR4. Even rookie seventh-round pick Anthony Smith has some upside.
Safety
Rookie Caleb Downs immediately makes this group better, but he’s not the only addition. The Cowboys also signed Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke in free agency. For good measure, they also have Malik Hooker as they turned a perennial weakness into a strength this offseason.
Quarterback
Dak Prescott carries this group, especially after another spectacular season. Behind Prescott, however, the Cowboys are still strong with Joe Milton III and Sam Howell. Either player could wind up as the QB2 and could keep the offense going in the short-term.
Defensive Line
Defensive tackle has been a weakness for years, but Jones decided that had to change. Entering 2026, Dallas has Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, Otitto Ogbonnia, Jonathan Bullard, and rookie LT Overton, which is a solid group.
Offensive Line
The interior of the Dallas offensive line could make this one of the best groups overall with Cooper Beebe, Tyler Smith, and Tyler Guyton all standing out at their respective positions.
The problem is that offensive tackle has some concerns. Tyler Guyton hasn’t lived up to his draft status and Terence Steele hasn’t played up to his contract. Drew Shelton could eventually take over for one, but the rookie needs time to develop.
EDGE
There’s not an All-Pro on the edge like there was when Micah Parsons was in Dallas, but the group is much deeper this season. Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Malachi Lawrence, and James Houston can all have big roles this season. They’re even going to try Marist Liufau on the edge, but the depth might be an issue for him.
Tight End
Jake Ferguson had eight touchdowns in 2025, which was huge. The problem is that he struggled with ball security, hardly had any yards after the catch, and finished with an average of just 7.3 yards per reception.
Luke Schoonmaker has been the TE2, but he could be pushed by Brevyn Spann-Ford. Undrafted free agent Michael Trigg is a player to watch, but he’s unlikely to produce much as a rookie.
Cornerback
Defensive coordinator Christian Parker is a fan of Shavon Revel, and if he can turn him into a starter, that would be huge for this position.
Right now, there are far too many questions, with the durability of DaRon Bland being chief among them.
Entering OTAs, there’s a chance free agent pickup Cobie Durant could be their best option at cornerback. He’s a solid addition, but they need someone else to step up as well.
Linebacker
We recently noted that linebacker remains the greatest need on this team. They did a great job by trading for Dee Winters and rookie Jaishawn Barham could wind up being a great fit.
That said, they need DeMarvion Overshown to stay healthy for this group to succeed. If he misses time, their lack of depth will hurt them.
Running Back
Linebacker might be the primary need, but running back comes in last here due to the concerns behind Javonte Williams.
There’s no denying that Williams is a stud. He broke out in 2025 with 1,201 yards but the depth is questionable. If second-year back Jaydon Blue improves, this position group would climb the ranks in a hurry. For now, however, there are too many question marks.
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Morton started 15 games in 1972 for an injured Staubach, who eventually returned in the playoffs. The Cowboys decided to trade Morton in 1974 to the Giants, who sent back a first-round pick, which turned out to be the No. 2 overall pick in 1975. The Cowboys used that selection to take Randy White, a 10-time Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer.
Ironically enough, White’s best game was likely Super Bowl XII, when he was named Co-MVP with Harvey Martin. The Cowboys’ Doomsday defense dominated the Broncos, who were quarterbacked by Morton.
Overall, Morton played for the Cowboys, Giants and Broncos before officially retiring at the end of the 1982 season.
His career ended with 27,908 passing yards, ranking him 71st in NFL history, just ahead of Hall of Famer Joe Namath (27,663).
With the official NFL schedule coming this week, the Dallas Cowboys have revealed when, where and against who their Week 1 contest will be.
The Cowboys announced that they will square off against the New York Giants on the road in Week 1, with the game set for Sunday, Sept. 13, at 7:20 p.m. CT. So, it’s prime time for the Cowboys to start the season.
This is the second game we know about for the Cowboys this year. Of course, we know they will be playing on Thanksgiving, also.
The official schedule will drop on May 14, the NFL announced last week. Schedules for all 32 teams will be revealed on ESPN and the NFL Network, but each team will unveil its own schedule on social media, also.
The Cowboys were always likely to play a road game in Week 1 because of an Usher and Chris Brown concert taking place at AT&T Stadium that week.
Dallas will also be impacted by an Ed Sheeran concert in Week 7, so that’s another potential road game. They could also play on Monday or Thursday that week, or have a bye.
Cowboys’ strength of schedule
According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, the Cowboys are not going to have an easy road to make the postseason.
The Cowboys have the fourth-toughest schedule in the NFL going into the 2026 season, with only the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers having tougher slates.
Dallas’ schedule is also the third-toughest in the NFC, and the most difficult in the NFC East.
Sharp does his strength of schedule rankings based on win totals from Vegas oddsmakers rather than utilizing the previous season’s records because that metric doesn’t factor in offseason changes.
The Cowboys will play home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
On the road, Dallas will square off against the Giants, Eagles, Commanders, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.
Of those opponents, seven of them made the postseason in 2025, a list that includes the Jaguars, 49ers, Eagles, Texans, Rams, Seahawks and Packers.
All of those teams should be as good in 2026, and teams like the Colts, Titans, Ravens, Bucs, Giants and Commanders have a very real chance to be improved as well.
It won’t be an easy road for Dallas to get back to the playoffs in 2026, but there’s at least hope following a defensive overhaul.
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