Neither team appeared especially interested in reversing
their recent fortune; no shots were recorded for either team in the first five
minutes of play. Although that statistic
was reversed for each team, only Chicago would make good on any of their shots
in the first period. Jamal Mayers
notched his third goal of the season by putting back a rebound of a shot by Dave
Bolland at the 14:33 mark. The visitors
made it 2-0 in the dying moments of the first period when Steve Montador sent a
soft wrist shot to the Caps’ net that goalie Michal Neuvirth whiffed on when he
tried to glove it down. The Hawks went
to the locker room with a 2-0 lead, even though the Caps out-shot them, 9-7.
The second period opened with Braden Holtby taking over in
net for the Caps, and things started in ugly fashion for him. Jonathan Toews won the draw to open the
period back to Duncan Keith. The
Blackhawk defenseman sent the puck up to Patrick Kane at the Capitals’ line
where he turned and circled for the Caps net. His wrist shot snuck though
Holtby’s five-hole, giving Chicago a 3-0 lead just 16 seconds into the middle
frame.
The Blackhwaks sensed blood in the water and went for the
kill with heavy pressure on Holtby. They
were unable to add to their goal total, and gradually the Caps tilted the ice
in the other direction. Their efforts
paid off when Jay Beagle drew a tripping call on Patrick Kane as Beagle
wrestled the puck away from him. The Caps
converted the power play opportunity a half-minute later when Nicklas Backstrom
slid a pass from close quarters to Mathieu Perreault at the post to the left of
goalie Ray Emery. Perreault redirected
the puck past Emery’s skate to put the Caps on the board. They could get no closer over the last five
minutes of the period, though, and the teams went off at the second
intermission with the Blackhawks holding a 3-1 lead.
Chicago made it 4-1 at the 4:02 mark when Keith recorded his
fifth goal of the year, wristing a shot past Holtby off a faceoff win by
Jonathan Toews.
Joey Crabb got the Caps got closer at the 13:25 mark when he
banked a shot off the skate of Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya. Troy Brouwer made a game of it when he
snapped the puck past Emery at the 17:44 mark with Brent Seabrook draped all
over him.
That would be as close as the Caps would get. They would
have chances late with Holtby pulled for an extra attacker. Nicklas Backstrom hit a post with 30 seconds
left, and Alex Ovechkin sent a shot just wide before the final horn. But Chicago escaped with a 4-3 win, giving
the Caps their sixth loss in eight games.
Notes: Michal Neuvirth was listed as day-to-day after being
removed at the first intermission with flu symptoms.
Blackhawks 4 – Capitals 3
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