Capitals hand the Blackhawks their worst shutout loss in the Kane-Toews era

If it seems at all hard to remember a time when a Blackhawks team with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane was so totally dominated as they were on Friday night in a 6-0 loss to the Capitals, well there’s a good reason for that.

It’s never happened.

Not since before Kane and Toews joined the Hawks has Chicago been on the wrong end of a shutout loss this lopsided.

Washington scored three goals in the first period, one in the second and two more in the third — all without having a single power play — in a game that seemed over from the opening faceoff. The Capitals were playing a much faster game at a higher level than the Hawks could keep up with.

It doesn’t seem like this is a turnout the Hawks will forget about anytime soon, either. Players were rightfully angry after the game.

The Hawks were outshot 34-24, 0-2 on the power play and won just 28 percent of their faceoffs. Every player on Chicago had a negative plus/minus with the team combining for a -30.

Edmonton defeated the Blackhawks 9-2 in 2011 for the most lopsided defeat in the Toews/Kane era, and a trip down Misery Lane via Hockey-Reference.com shows there have been plenty of big losses in the last decade.

The worse news is that after each of the top five games on that list, the Hawks lost their next match. Chicago now heads into a Sunday night showdown with a Minnesota team that’s only two points behind the Hawks for the lead in the Central.