CHICAGO — In the NHL, the second half of a back-to-back, particularly when a team has to travel between games, is often thought of as a scheduled loss. Teams can’t lose all of their second legs — the schedule has been compressed, so it has become a more common challenge — but those games provide a built-in excuse for a flat performance.
Washington
Back-to-backs remain no sweat for Capitals during 4-2 win in Chicago
The Washington Capitals haven’t needed to lean on that excuse. With a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night at United Center, they improved to 4-0-0 in the second half of back-to-backs this season.
“It wasn’t looking good early,” Capitals Coach Spencer Carbery admitted. “We were okay, but you could just tell we were fighting it a little bit. That’s where you see the mental fortitude of our group to dig in there. … A couple guys make massive plays offensively to really give us some life.”
Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves to earn the win in his first start since he was pulled after allowing three goals on five shots Monday in a 6-0 loss at Arizona. Kuemper’s rebound control nearly got him in trouble in the first period — including on a would-be goal by Chicago’s Philipp Kurashev that was waved off because he kicked the puck into the net — but he was stable the rest of the way.
“Sometimes when it goes that poorly, like that game in Arizona, it’s not great, but you can use it the right way and really kind of look at the big picture,” Kuemper said. “Just wanted to get back to the basics. That’s what I’ve been working on the last little bit. It was nice to go out and find a way to win.”
Both teams played Saturday — Washington routed the visiting New York Rangers, 4-0, and host Chicago beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 — and it showed in the first period. Chicago’s Nick Foligno took a tripping penalty just 2:26 in, Capitals defenseman John Carlson did the same 45 seconds later, and forward Beck Malenstyn was whistled for tripping at 5:15. The early time spent on special teams prevented both teams from establishing a consistent flow for the rest of a scoreless period.
But when the second period began, the Blackhawks (9-17-1) palpably raised their energy level. Malenstyn returned to the box for tripping at 2:59, and though Washington killed the penalty, Chicago kept the ice tilted and scored 50 seconds later. Kurashev tipped a centering pass from Seth Jones past defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and over Kuemper to put the Blackhawks ahead.
But the Capitals (14-8-3) found a spark after Chicago scored. Less than 90 seconds later, winger Anthony Mantha skated onto the end of a lob pass over the blue line from center Connor McMichael, collecting the puck in the slot before tucking it past Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom (23 saves) on his backhand to tie the score.
Center Dylan Strome, who spent four seasons with Chicago before signing with Washington in 2022, scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season (and his first against Chicago) on a feed from defenseman Joel Edmundson about five minutes after Mantha’s tally. After forward T.J. Oshie threw a big hit on the forecheck, Edmundson received the puck from captain Alex Ovechkin in the slot and spotted Strome waiting beside the net for a tap-in.
“Nice to get a goal in here,” Strome said. “Eddy made an unbelievable pass. [I] just kind of had to put it in.”
The Capitals have struggled to score for most of the season, but they have started to find goals from across the lineup in their past few games, and the fourth line added two Sunday — its second game in a row with at least one goal after winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel tallied Saturday. The line’s other Nic, center Nic Dowd, got the final touch on a loose puck in the crease and swept it across the goal line to extend Washington’s lead at 15:23 of the second period.
Dowd added a second goal at 15:58 of the third, giving the Capitals insurance in the final minutes. His first goal became the game-winner when the Blackhawks’ Connor Murphy cut the lead to 4-2 with 1:42 to play.
“These are tough games,” Dowd said. “Travel last night, long bus ride. I think we just have a veteran team and guys understand how the game needs to be played.”
If there was a sour part of Sunday’s game for the Capitals, it’s that in his return to United Center after scoring a hat trick — and the 800th goal of his career — here last December, Ovechkin’s goalless drought reached 10 games. He has never gone more than 10 games without a goal in his NHL career; his only other 10-game drought was from Feb. 22 to March 12, 2017. He has just five goals and is on pace for 16.
But the Capitals have started to find a groove offensively after a difficult start, and that lifted them to back-to-back wins — and five points over their past three games.
“This is an important game for us to put our best foot forward, given the circumstances,” Carbery said. “Back-to-back, travel, get in late, against a team that we need to meet our standard against. We have to play a certain way every single time if we expect results. I thought we did enough tonight to put ourselves in a good position.”