The Blackhawks kick off a pair of weekend games with a stop in the nation’s capital on Saturday night, as they’re in DC to face the Washington Capitals.
The last time Chicago was in Washington for a game, it narrowly avoided becoming a part of league history, as Alex Ovechkin only tied Wayne Gretzky’s career mark for goals scored during a 5-3 Capitals win. A season down the road, Ovechkin continues defying Father Time with 34 points (15 G, 19 A) in 41 games this season despite turning 40 back in September in a league mostly full of players whose age starts with a two. That point total is good for second on the team to Tom Wilson, who’s on pace for the best season of his career with 42 points (22 G, 20 A) in 40 games so far. He’s been on a significant heater in the last three games, picking up eight points (5 G, 3 A). Additional scoring threats up front for the Capitals include old friend Dylan Strome (32 points in 39 games) and blossoming young forward Aliaksei Protas (21 in 41). One of the team’s biggest stories this season is on the blue line, where Jakob Chychrun appears to be realizing the potential that surrounded him back in his Arizona days, as he has 31 points (15 G, 16 A) in 41 games and is averaging a team-best 23:16 of ice time per game. That’s taken some of the burden off of John Carlson, who remains a solid producer at 29 points (8 G, 21 A) in 37 games. The overall message here is that Washington has a balanced enough attack from its forwards and defense to be a top-10 offense in the league at 3.24 goals per game. And that comes with a power play currently tied for 27th in the league at a 16.0 percent conversion rate, which is a bit of a surprise given Ovechkin’s presence here.
The Capitals are part of the growing blob of teams in the East separated by just three points. With 47 through 41 games (21-15-5), Washington is tied with Philadelphia atop that group, followed by Buffalo at 46, three teams at 45 and three more teams at 44, so any quick spurts of success or failure could lead to significant shifting of their postseason fortunes. Lately, it’s been more of the latter, with Washington winning just four games in their last 13 (4-6-3) after a six-game winning streak on both sides of Thanksgiving. The Capitals most recent outing was a 4-3 loss to the Senators on Thurdsay night.
One thing that could keep Washington afloat in the East? Starting goalie Logan Thompson, who’s having an excellent season with a 15-11-3 record, .913 save percentage and 2.39 goals-against average. He’s the expected starter based on the Capitals morning skate on Saturday, and here’s the rest of the lineup that Washington trotted out against Ottawa:
Capitals lines against OTT (1/1):
— RMNB (@rmnb) January 1, 2026
Protas-Strome-Ovechkin
McMichael-Sourdif-Wilson
Beauvillier-Dowd-Leonard
Duhaime-Lapierre-Frank
Sandin-Carlson
Chychrun-Roy
Fehervary-TVR
Thompson
Lindgren
As for the Hawks, vibes have improved following a win over Dallas on New Year’s Day, giving hope that this team can withstand the continued absence of its top two forwards after early signs suggested their injuries were going to be end of relevant hockey games this season. Still work to be done to keep things interesting into the first few months of 2026, but Chicago remains within striking distance of postseason aspirations as the official midpoint of game No. 41 arrives this evening. One test that the Hawks will need to pass for a change is dealing with a second game in as many nights, as the latter of those back-to-back games have been consistent debacles this season. The next opportunity is upon us, with Chicago flying home after this game to face VGK on Sunday. Starting off with two points would be a good start, and the lineup that’ll attempt to secure them is the same one that beat Dallas on Thursday, per the morning skate:
Blackhawks lines in morning skate at Capitals are the same as the last two games:
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 3, 2026
Bertuzzi-Greene-Burakovsky
Donato-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Teravainen-Moore-Lardis
Dach-Foligno-Slaggert
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Levshunov
Grzelcyk-Murphy
Chicago’s undefeated in 2026. I see no reason why that trend should end.
Let’s go Hawks.
Tale of the Tape
Blackhawks — Statistic — Capitals
47.13% (26th) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 51.88% (8th)
44.72% (31st) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 52.26% (6th)
2.78 (t-24th) — Goals per game — 3.24 (9th)
3.18 (20th) — Goals against per game — 2.78 (8th)
46.4% (31st) — Faceoffs — 48.9% (23rd)
21.1% (t-12th) — Power play — 16.0% (t-27th)
83.7% (t-3rd) — Penalty kill — 76.7% (t-25th)
(All stats from this season)
How to watch
When: 6 p.m. CT
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio: WGN 720