Caps pull ahead early, late to start road trip
Wilson scores game-winner after Chicago rallies to tie
CHICAGO — The Washington Capitals had seen this before — a two-goal, thirdperiod lead quickly diminished because of lackluster play in the offensive zone and turnovers leading to atypical chances for their opponent.
The Capitals let the discouraging development happen again Sunday night against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center, but they were able to surge back ahead to secure a 5-3 win.
Captain Alex Ovechkin had given the Capitals that initial two-goal cushion 3:52 into the third period, but the Blackhawks came right back with goals by Dominik Kubalik 6:05 into the period and by Patrick Kane at 9:58. But the tie didn’t last long. Tom Wilson scored the game-winning goal from the front of the net with 8:13 to play. Lars Eller added an empty-netter with 50 seconds left for some insurance.
Washington improved to 6-2-2 on the season, starting its five-game road trip on a positive note before continuing on through Western Canada. Goaltender Braden Holtby made 40 saves and kept a hungry Blackhawks team from scoring in the final two minutes after Chicago added an extra attacker.
T.J. Oshie worked on creating scoring opportunities this summer. Now, he leads the team in goals.
Wilson tallied the go-ahead goal, but it was the Capitals’ special-teams units that ultimately made the difference. T.J. Oshie scored a power-play goal 9:25 into the first period, converting the Capitals’ only extraman opportunity of the game. The penalty kill went 5 for 5, and Nick Dowd scored a short-handed goal 9:53 into the second period to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan entered last year’s trade deadline knowing his team needed to get better on the penalty kill. It was an area the team had struggled with all season, unable to find the right personnel or the right balance of when to apply pressure in a system designed to be aggressive.
The team acquired winger Carl Hagelin and defenseman Nick Jensen at the deadline, immediately boosting a penalty-killing unit that has continued to excel this season. Washington was tied for eighth in the NHL in penalty-kill percentage even before its impressive showing in Chicago.
Hagelin made his presence felt on the penalty kill again Sunday after he put his head down and sped up ice after a turnover by Kane midway through the second period. Hagelin made a clean pass to Dowd to break the tie. Chicago had scored its first goal just 1:28 earlier, and Chandler Stephenson’s double-minor for high-sticking came at a dangerous time. Instead the Capitals took the lead, and the Blackhawks managed only one shot on goal during their extended advantage. Oshie’s power-play goal in the first period — his team-leading seventh goal of the season, this one on a feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov after a puck battle — was his third in his past two games. The Capitals’ power play is now 7 for 15 on the road this season.
Oshie worked with Reirden over the summer to figure out how to create more scoring opportunities after tallying 25 goals last season. The answer? Reirden pushed Oshie to play more in front of the net to let him use more of his creativity tipping pucks and as a net-front presence. So far, the tactic has worked. A slight tweak to the team’s defensive system has given defensemen more responsibility dumping pucks in toward the net, allowing players such as Oshie to capitalize.
Oshie was on the wrong end of Chicago’s first equalizer, when he fell entering the offensive zone and fourth-liner Drake Caggiula scored off the turnover.
Both teams’ depth forwards contributed, with Dowd’s short-handed goal providing a quick answer. Dowd had been in and out of the Capitals’ lineup to start the season, trading places as the fourth-line center with Stephenson, until an injury to Richard Panik forced the team to place Panik on injured reserve before Friday’s game