Buzzer beaters aren't normally seen in hockey. The Washington Capitals thought that they had one Thursday against the Dallas Stars, but the referees thought otherwise.
John Carlson's potential buzzer beater seemingly tied the game, but the referees washed it out immediately and the Stars prevailed in a 2-1 victory.
Carlson scored with less than ten seconds left and the puck found its way behind Andrew Raycroft. Yet, as soon as the Capitals began to celebrate, the referee closest to the play signaled that the goal would not count due to either incidental contact or goaltender interference after Alex Ovechkin was in the crease. Upon review, it looked like it was Dallas defenseman Karlis Skrastins who ran into Raycroft, but the call stood.
Regardless, the Capitals had a hard time getting anything going against Dallas. The Stars opened the scoring late in the second period on their fourth power play of the night, all which came in the second period. James Neal set up behind the Capitals' goal and found Brad Richards on the right faceoff circle for a wrist shot. Michal Neuvirth would stop Richards' shot with his leg pad, but left a rebound for Ribeiro to stuff home for his fourth goal of the season at 13:29.
The Capitals would get their power play chances in the third period, where Mike Green would find Mike Knuble open on the right side of the net to tie the game at 1-1. Just 20 seconds later, however, Brandon Segal fired a wrist shot that seemed to fool Michal Neuvirth and restore the Stars' lead at 2-1.
In his Capitals debut, defenseman Scott Hannan had 19:02 TOI and four blocked shots. Hannan was in the penalty box for Ribeiro's goal; Hannan had only six penalty minutes in 23 games with the Colorado Avalanche before the Capitals acquired him Tuesday.