Tom Wilson scored 54 seconds into the game and the Capitals mashed the Blackhawks‘ comeback to hand Chicago a 4-2 loss Wednesday night at Capital One Arena.
The Blackhawks fall to 0-6-1 in their last seven road games and their woes in Washington, D.C., continue as they haven’t won in the nation’s capital since Jan. 10, 2006.
Andre Burakovsky, Michal Kempny and Devante Smith-Pelly each scored for the Capitals. Jakub Vrana had two assists. Braden Holtby was straight butter in net with 37 saves.
Brandon Saad and Erik Gustafsson tallied both Chicago goals.
Washington took a 1-0 lead by capitalizing on a poor defensive play by Nick Schmaltz, who chased the puck instead of staying with his man and ended up at the kid’s table. Wilson skated right past Schmaltz to the front of the net where he buried a pass from Alex Ovechkin only 54 seconds into the game.
Vrana dished out two pies for the Capitals to take a three-goal edge.
He picked up some leftovers in front of the net and sent a no-look, backhand feed to Burakovsky, who fired the puck from the right circle into a wide-open net with one second left on the power play.
Vrana sent a feed to Kempny — a former Blackhawk — who made it 3-0 midway through the second period with a turkey from the point past Crawford, who gobbled up 23 saves.
Two minutes later, Saad finally put the Blackhawks on the scoreboard when he powered through the Capitals defense and flipped the puck past Holtby.
Gustafsson made it a one-goal game with a Bobby Orr-like goal as he dove across the crease like a drunk uncle during a Turkey Bowl football game while tapping the puck into the net at 5:23 of the third frame.
As the game looked like it might start flowing like gravy to Chicago’s way, Smith-Pelly smacked away any hope of a comeback less than two minutes after Gustafsson’s goal. Kempny stopped a clearing attempt and the Capitals pushed the puck back into the zone before Travis Boyd made a terrific pass through Henri Jokiharju to Smith-Pelly for the goal.
Up next
The Blackhawks have Thanksgiving off before beginning a back-to-back in Florida with the Lightning and Panthers on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
3 Stars
- Kempny (WSH) — 1 goal
- Vrana (WSH) — 2 assists
- Holtby (WSH) — 37 saves