Robertson's natural hat trick sinks Capitals in 6-5 loss to Stars

Jason Robertson scored three straight goals and the Dallas Stars outlasted the Washington Capitals 6-5 at Capital One Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in a game that turned on a seven-goal second period.

The Capitals fell to 8-6-0 and 16 points, 6-4-0 at home, in front of 16,956. Dallas improved to 9-5-1 and 4-1-1 on the road.

Washington went scoreless in the first and trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes. The teams then combined for seven goals in the second, with Dallas scoring four and Washington three, before the Capitals outscored the Stars 2-1 in the third and ran out of time.

Robertson takes over

Robertson's natural hat trick was the third-fastest in Stars history, and he finished with four points on five shots. Roope Hintz added a goal and two assists, and Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley each had two assists. Joel Kiviranta and Mikko Rantanen also scored for Dallas.

Jake Oettinger made 20 saves on 25 shots for the Stars.

Five different scorers for Washington

Jordan Kyrou led the Capitals with a goal and two assists. Boone Jenner, Ryan Leonard, Justin Sourdif and Jakob Chychrun each scored once. Dylan Strome had two assists, and Chychrun added an assist to go with five shots in a team-high 26:50 of ice time.

Washington's power play went 2-for-3, while Dallas converted 1 of 2. The Capitals outshot the Stars 25-22 and out-hit them 24-18, but Dallas won 59.6 percent of the faceoffs and blocked 18 shots to Washington's eight.

Logan Thompson started in goal for the Capitals and allowed four goals on 11 shots in 25:17 before Charlie Lindgren took over. Lindgren stopped nine of 11 shots in 31:49 the rest of the way.

Rookie left wing Ilya Protas picked up an assist and finished plus-2 in 12:04 of ice time.

Heiskanen leaves early

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen played just 9:41 over eight shifts and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Up next

The loss leaves Washington fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 16 points, behind Carolina (26), New Jersey (18) and the New York Rangers (17). The Capitals are back at home Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. ET against the Florida Panthers.