Dallas Stars vs Washington Capitals Prediction & Preview – 1/7/2026

The Dallas Stars will head to Capital One Arena in Washington to face the Capitals in a midweek NHL matchup. Dallas arrives with a strong overall record but is reeling from a recent losing streak, while Washington carries confidence from a high‑scoring victory in their last outing. Before this contest begins in Washington, you can find my Stars vs Capitals prediction below.

Our Stars vs Capitals Pick

Game Snapshot

• Matchup: Dallas Stars vs Washington Capitals
• Date & Time: Wednesday, January 7, 2026, 7:00 p.m. ET
• Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
• Broadcast: TNT

Key Storylines

Recent Form

Dallas has struggled recently, dropping their last six games after a 6‑3 loss to Carolina on Tuesday, where offensive contributions from Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston weren’t enough to stop the skid. Their slide includes multiple one-goal games. Dallas will try to do a better job in crunch time in this game.

Washington enters this contest off a 7‑4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, highlighted by Justin Sourdif’s first career hat trick. The Capitals have been involved in some high-scoring games of late, with four of their last five games seeing a total of seven goals or more scored. That means the Washington attack is performing well, but their defense needs to be better.

Goaltending

Dallas may turn to Casey DeSmith here, who has delivered quality performances recently and posted a strong .941 save percentage in his last start. Washington’s starter Logan Thompson has been reliable as well, posting a solid save percentage of .915 with a 2.37 goals‑against average. The Caps have a slight edge in the goaltending department entering this matchup.

Key Skaters

Stars leader Jason Robertson has been the driving force offensively, while Wyatt Johnston has done plenty of scoring of his own. Roope Hintz’s overall contributions have also elevated Dallas’ offensive output. For Washington, Sourdif’s hat-trick game gave the offense a spark, and veteran contributors like Tom Wilson provide goal scoring as well.

Best Player Props

Betting Trends & H2H

• The Stars defeated the Capitals 1-0 in their first meeting this season.
• Dallas is 16-27 on the puckline going into this matchup.
• Washington is 25-18 in the puckline market entering Wednesday night.

Stars vs Capitals Model Projection

Final Thoughts

Jay Sanin

Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.