Drake Bell » , A minor penalty shall be imposed

WASHINGTON -- The Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals both began the game one point away from a playoff spot. The Stars? They played like a team determined to get to there for the first time since 2008. The Capitals? They looked like a group tired of having their yearly routines disrupted by such a trivial thing as post-season hockey. It was no contest. The Stars 5-0 win over the Capitals on Tuesday night was a victory of confidence over embarrassment. Dallas has won five of six, outscoring opponents 16-5 over their past three games. "Its a big obstacle," said Ray Whitney, who scored in the second period. "Its been, what, five years now? ... Were no different than anybody else whos been out for a while. We want to get in pretty bad." The victory, at least for a few hours, moved the Stars one point ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes for the final post-season berth in the Western Conference. The Coyotes then moved into a tie with Dallas by picking up a point in a shootout loss to Winnipeg later Tuesday. "Its scoreboard-watching time," Whitney said. The Capitals, meanwhile, were booed heavily in their home rink, particularly after an abysmal stretch in the second period in which they allowed several odd-man rushes, took a slashing penalty and gave up two goals in 34 seconds. "If I was a fan, Id be booing us right now," said goaltender Braden Holtby, who relieved Jaroslav Halak in the second period after Dallas third goal. "A playoff race like were in? To lose 5-0, its awful. Theres no words for it." The Capitals began their run of playoff seasons in 2008. Like Dallas, they started the day as a ninth-place team, but they ended up dropping a spot to 10th. They would lose a tiebreaker against every team contending for the final post-season spots in the Eastern Conference. They have lost four straight and were shut out for the seventh time this season. Alex Ovechkin - the leagues leading goal-scorer - hasnt scored a 5-on-5 goal in more than a month. "If somehow we make the playoffs playing like this, who are we kidding?" coach Adam Oates said. "We have to figure out a way to get better. We have to stick together." Tyler Seguin scored his 33rd goal, Dustin Jeffrey got his first two of the season, and Whitney and Ryan Garbutt also scored for the Stars. Alex Chiasson had three assists, and Kari Lehtonen made 35 saves for his fourth shutout. After over-relying on Seguin and Jamie Benn to carry the scoring load, Dallas suddenly has been getting points from seemingly everyone. "If you look at our top line, I think a lot of teams are focusing on that. Theyre getting the harder matchups," said Jeffrey, who has been back and forth to the minors after being claimed off waivers in November. "We have to be able to score up and down our lineup." Seguin redirected Benns wrister from the left circle in the first period, then there were Capitals miscues aplenty in the second, with the Stars taking advantage. Alex Goligoskis long pass sprang a 2-on-0 break for Whitneys goal. Jeffrey scored shortly afterward, then again in the third. Garbutt capped the scoring with a short-handed goal on a breakaway. "We had a lot of 2-on-1s, and we even had a 2-on-0," Whitney said. "Not often do you see that many scoring chances." Ovechkin last had a 5-on-5 point on Feb. 27, a streak of 16 games. Nicklas Backstrom, who leads the teams in points, is also without a 5-on-5 goal since Feb. 27. Multiple players in the Capitals locker room faulted the teams lack of urgency. "It cant be justified. Its terrible. ... Its like we expect the next guy to make the play," defenceman Karl Alzner said. "Its been kind of off and on like that for a lot of the season, and weve got away with it at times. It clearly hasnt worked the last little bit, and you pay for it in the end." Notes: D Patrik Nemeth made his NHL debut for the Stars as D Aaron Rome sat out with an injury. . Capitals D Patrick Wey sat out after taking an uppercut in a fight that forced him out of Saturdays loss at Nashville. Washington RW Dustin Penner (illness) and D Jack Hillen (upper-body injury) also missed the game. ... Capitals F Chris Brown played after getting called up from the AHL earlier in the day. Cheap Jets Jerseys Authentic . Directly ahead was open field, the end zone and the Seattle Seahawks place in the NFC championship game. Cheap Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . - Urijah (The California Kid) Faber finds himself in an unaccustomed position Saturday night at UFC 175 — on the preliminary card. http://www.cheapwinnipegjetsjerseys.com/. -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. Cheap Jets Jerseys China .In the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte, German champion Bayern Munich remained third but Barcelona dropped from second to fourth during its trophyless 2014.In the 2013-2014 financial year, Real generated 549. Cheap Adidas Jets Jerseys . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Kerry, after watching P.K. Subban called for slashing Tampas Brett Connolly from the bench on Tuesday, shouldnt any foul committed by a player on the bench against another player on the bench be called as unsportsmanlike conduct? Why would the ref still call it slashing? Mike Vail Mike: Other than objects thrown onto the ice from the players or penalty bench (results in bench minor) the referee(s) is directed to impose the appropriate penalty to any identifiable player that commits an infraction from those bench areas. This application results from a broad extension of rule 56.2 -Interference, A minor penalty shall be imposed on any identifiable player on the players or penalty bench who, by means of his stick or his body, interferes with the movements of the puck or any opponent on the ice during the progress of the play. The appropriate penalty according to the playingg rules shall be assessed when a player on the players or penalty bench gets involved with an opponent on the ice during a stoppage in play.dddddddddddd.. Rule 56.3 adds that the bench minor penalty would be assessed if the officials were unable to identify the specific player guilty of such action. While it was more of a poke or tap than a slash, P.K. Subban did make deliberate stick contact with Brett Connolly of the Lightning while standing on the Montreal players bench. As such, Subban was clearly identifiable and the referee appropriately assessed a stick related infraction against the Montreal player. The referee had the option of deeming Subban guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct (minor or misconduct) but in my judgment chose the better course of action. The intent of this rule application is to identify and punish the specific player guilty of violating the playing rules when positioned on the players bench or penalty box. This needless penalty resulted in a Lightning power-play goal scored by Tyler Johnson. ' ' '