The Capitals have been inconsistent to say the least lately, and headed into last night’s game fresh off a lackluster loss to the Stars at home back on Wednesday. They really needed to get out to a strong start in Chicago, a team dealing with injuries and illness that knocked out both their starting and backup goaltender – in other words, exactly what the doctor ordered for the Caps. The question was, could they take advantage of it?
In a word, yes. In a lot more words, the Caps put up a dominant first period, kept the foot on the gas even after a small amount of pushback from the ‘Hawks, and rode it to a win in front of the dads and mentors.
That first period really set the tone for the Caps, though – so let’s talk about it.
It started with the best way to kick off a road game: an early goal. This one was courtesy of Anthony Beauvillier, who got the party started just a little over four minutes with this sneaky tip shot:
It was a beauty of a goal and a pretty nice way to start things off, to be sure…but it was just one goal, and that one goal was all that was keeping the Caps ahead when first Justin Sourdif, then Martin Fehervary, took penalties to put the Caps on an extended five-on-three penalty kill.
Butt-clenching time for the next one minute and fifteen seconds.
Thankfully, the Caps – and Logan Thompson – were more than up to the task, withstanding a pretty furious Chicago attack that saw them put five shots on net. None of them went in, though, and so that 1-0 lead held. Five minutes later, that lead expanded to 2-0 courtesy of a Chicago turnover, a Ryan Leonard breakout pass, and Connor McMichael with the slick five-hole shot. And a little under four minutes later, it became 3-0 thanks to Ethen Frank.
After that, the Caps really never looked back, despite a Chicago power-play goal midway through the second to cut the lead to two. They scored two more – including a strike by Alex Ovechkin that added another goalie to his ever-growing list of victims – and finished off an all-around solid night on enemy ice with a big 5-1 win.
Next up, they’ll face the Nashville Predators…who will first face the Chicago Blackhawks today, in a strange quirk of the schedule. Here’s hoping the good vibes from Friday carry over through the weekend.