The Chicago Blackhawks opened a three-game road trip through the Metropolitan Division with the division-leading Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Thursday night. The Hawks are coming off a hard-fought 2–0 loss against the San Jose Sharks last Sunday at United Center, while the Caps are two days removed from a wild 5–4 road loss against the Florida Panthers. In that contest, the Caps saw a 4–1 lead evaporate in the third when the home team scored four in the final frame to earn the win in regulation.
In net, the Hawks sent out Marc-Andre Fleury against Vitek Vanecek. For Chicago, the game marked the NHL debut of Josiah Slavin, a 2018 seventh-round pick of the Hawks who has four goals and eight points in 15 games with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. If his surname sounds familiar, that is because Josiah is the younger brother of Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin.
First period
Late in the first, Blackhawks Interim Head Coach Derek King made an adjustment to get more offense late by moving Patrick Kane to a line with Alex DeDrincat and Kirby Dach, and it paid off. With 59.3 seconds left, Kane fed “the Cat” on a 2-on-1 and he deked Vanacek for his 13th of the season to give Chicago a 1–0 lead, which was how the period ended. In an evenly played first, each team had its share of quality chances with the Hawks outshooting the Caps 9–8.
Second period
The middle period began with a boom, as Alexander Ovechkin leveled Connor Murphy with a clean hit into the boards. A woozy Murphy was helped to the bench and sent to the locker room and would not return to the game. Seconds later, the Caps forced a Brandon Hagel turnover and went 3-on-2 the other way, which ended with Nic Dowd deflecting a Carl Hagelin pass from the right circle for his third of the season to tie the game at 1–1.
At 12:57 of the second, the Blackhawks finally broke through on the power play. After a lazy clear to the neutral zone instead of down the ice by Evgeny Kuznetsov, DeBrincat skated in and found a wide-open Dominik Kubalik skating alone up the middle, and after a beautiful pass from DeBrincat, Kubalik scored his fourth of the season to give the Hawks a 2–1 lead and end a 15-game goal-scoring drought.
With 2:29 left in the period, Kuznetsov redeemed himself when an Ovechkin laser from the left circle hit the far post before tapping in the rebound during a goal-mouth scramble for his eighth of the season to tie the game at 2–2. In the second, it was the Caps outshooting the Hawks 9–8 for a two-period total of 17 apiece.
Third period
The Hawks opened the third with some carryover power play time, but were unable to convert. As the penalty expired, Dowd picked Seth Jones’ pocket and found a wide-open Garnet Hathaway, who just left the penalty box and scored his sixth of the season on a breakaway to give the Caps a 3–2 advantage just 57 seconds into the frame.
The Hawks tied it at 3–3 when Slavin notched his first NHL point when he sliced through a few Washington defenders before looping to the boards to find a trailing Jones, who wristed one past Vanecek with Ryan Carpenter providing the screen. For Jones, it was his third of the season at 11:56 of the period. For the final frame, both teams registered nine shots on goal for a total of 26 shots each in regulation.
Overtime
Despite the end-to-end action, both teams registered just two shots apiece with the Caps also hitting the post for what may have been the third or fourth time in the game. Both teams finished with 28 shots heading into the shootout, which was the first of the season for the Caps and second for the Hawks.
Shootout
Kuznetsov beat Fleury to the stick side, but, fittingly, hit the post.
Jonathan Toews tried to go five hole, but was denied by Vanecek.
Daniel Sprong beat Fleury to the glove side, but again, the iron came up big for the visitors.
Kane did his signature slow down and stick handle move before wristing the puck through Vanecek’s five hole to give the Hawks a 1–0 lead in the shootout.
Fleury clinched the win when he stopped Ovechkin, who tried to go five hole. Fleury’s save gave the Hawks their first win in the nation’s capital since January of 2006 and improved their record to 7–3 under King.
The good, the bad, the ugly
The good
Slavin: It was a really strong debut for the 22-year-old. He immediately looked like he belonged in a bottom-six role, as he was noticeable all 200 feet. Slavin was given some time on the penalty kill by King and would later register an assist on Jones’ goal for his first NHL point. And it was not a cheap assist either; the goal would not have happened without Slavin’s nifty playmaking on the tally.
The Hawks’ “fab five” defensemen: When Murphy went down early in the second, the other five blueliners—Jones, Erik Gustafsson, Caleb Jones, Wyatt Kalynuk and Jake McCabe—took on more minutes and held their own against the highest-scoring team in the league. Knowing the troubles the Blackhawks’ defensemen have had playing defense this season, that was certainly no easy feat. You can thank the iron behind Fleury for bailing them out as well.
The bad
Toews’ goal-scoring drought: He is getting chances, but has zero luck on his side. What more can you say other then you hope he gets one and gets on a roll soon.
The ugly
Murphy: The hit he took from Ovechkin was clean, but Ovechkin’s momentum caused Murphy’s head to hit the glass. Hopefully Murphy can return in time to help the team in New York this weekend, though that remains to be seen.
Analysis
It was a heck of a win for the Hawks in a building that has been a house of horrors for them for more than a decade. The team received strong contributions up and down the lineup, which should give them confidence as they head to Madison Square Garden for a matchup against their Original Six brethren, the New York Rangers, on Saturday. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CST on NBCSCH+ with the radio broadcast on 720 WGN.