Capitals beat Stars, former teammate Braden Holtby 5-0

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Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists and Vitek Vanecek had 30 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Washington Capitals beat former teammate Braden Holtby and the Dallas Stars 5-0 on Friday night.

Trevor van Riemsdyk, Tom Wilson, John Carlson and Connor McMichael also scored for the Capitals, who won in regulation for the first time since Jan. 15. Evgeny Kuznetsov also had two assists.

The Caps scored only one goal in their two previous games, their lone back-to-back regulation losses this season.

"Offensively, it was nice to get some results," said Capitals coach Peter Laviolette, whose team is 8-1-3 after a regulation defeat.

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Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) controls the puck in front of Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson (21) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Vanecek has stopped 160 of the last 170 shots he’s faced.

The Caps (24-12-9) own the Eastern Conference’s first wild card and are three points out of third place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Stars (22-17-2) are tied with Calgary for the West’s second wild card.

Holtby allowed all five goals and stopped 22 shots before being replaced after two periods by Jake Oettinger, who made two saves.

It was Holtby’s first career game against the Capitals, his former team for the first 10 of his 12 NHL seasons. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2015-16 and was Washington’s primary goalie in his 20-17-18 Stanley Cup run.

"I hate to see that; he had a tough night," Backstrom said of Holtby, "but we all know what he’s done for our