Capitals 4, Blackhawks 1
WASHINGTON -- Defenseman John Carlson and right winger T.J. Oshie each had a goal and an assist, goaltender Braden Holtby made 26 saves and the Washington Capitals defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night.
It was Oshie's first goal as a member of the Capitals.
Defenseman Matt Niskanen's third period tally put Washington up 3-0 and Alex Ovechkin, who was benched Tuesday night after sleeping in and missing the morning skate, closed out the scoring when he converted a pass from center Evgeny Kuznetsov during a 2-on-1 break with 5:42 left.
Kuznetsov and left winger Marcus Johansson had two assists each for Washington (2-1-0).
Rookie defenseman Viktor Svedberg's first NHL goal pulled Chicago (2-3-0) within 3-1 early in the third period.
Goalie Scott Darling, starting in place of Corey Crawford as Chicago played its second night in a row, made 20 saves.
The Blackhawks, looking indeed like a team playing the second of back-to-backs, didn't manage their first shot on Holtby until more than nine minutes into the first period.
By then Washington already had the lead thanks to Oshie. Just 17 seconds into Chicago right winger Viktor Tikhonov's interference penalty, Oshie made 1-0 when he took an Kuznetsov pass and wristed the puck by Darling from the slot.
Chicago came in 9-for-10 on the penalty kill this season.
The Blackhawks owned a decisive 17-7 shots-on-goal advantage in the second period, but fell further behind.
Early in the period, Holtby made a pair of point-blank saves on center Marcus Kruger and right winger Andrew Shaw.
Less than a minute later, defenseman Carlson corralled a pass from right winger Stanislav Galiev at the blue line with his back to the Blackhawks net. He fired as he spun around and his shot through a screen in front eluded Darling to make it 2-0.
NOTES: The Capitals recalled C Chandler Stephenson from Hershey of the AHL. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut, centering the fourth line in place of C Michael Latta, a healthy scratch along with D Nate Schmidt. D Taylor Chorney made his Capitals debut. ... Washington C Sean Collins was reassigned to Hershey. ... Blackhawks LW Ryan Garbutt and D David Rundblad were healthy scratches, with RW Kyle Baun replacing Garbutt on the fourth line. ... Washington C Nicklas Backstrom has been cleared for full contact and could return as early as Saturday night when the Capitals close out a four-game season-opening homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes. ... The Blackhawks open a four-game homestand Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.