Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky scored first-period goals that gave Washington an early lead, and the host Capitals went on to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.
The Capitals returned home after a four-game road trip that they concluded with a pair of overtime victories, and they've now won three straight contests for the first time this season.
Goalie Braden Holtby, the winner in relief against Montreal on Monday, made his first start in five games and finished with 37 saves. He had been sidelined due to an undisclosed upper-body injury before coming on early in the second period to beat the Canadiens.
Injuries remained an issue for Washington as Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie remained out and are listed as day-to-day with what appeared to be head injuries. Still, the Capitals got goals from Wilson, Burakovsky, Michal Kempny and Devante Smith-Pelly, and 11 players scored at least one point.
Washington started quickly, scoring twice in the first seven minutes.
Wilson, playing his first game at home this season, scored 54 seconds in after a slick pass from Alex Ovechkin. Wilson simply deflected the pass past goalie Corey Crawford for a 1-0 lead.
Burakovsky made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 6:36 of the first period. He got a loose puck and fired it by Crawford from the right circle.
The Capitals acquired Kempny from the Blackhawks in a deal late last season, and he made it 3-0 at the 9:28 mark of that second period. He took a pass from Jakub Vrana (two assists) and scored on a slap shot from just inside the blue line.
Chicago answered just over three minutes later when Brandon Saad flicked a high shot past Holtby after getting around defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Saad now has goals in three straight games, and this one made it 3-1.
Erik Gustafsson then sliced the lead to 3-2 at the 5:23 mark of the third period. But Smith-Pelly gave the Capitals an insurance goal less than two minutes later.
--Field Level Media
Chicago | Washington | |
Erik Gustafsson 1 | Points | Jakub Vrana 2 |
Erik Gustafsson 1 | Goals | Andre Burakovsky 1 |
Artem Anisimov 1 | Assists | Jakub Vrana 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Andre Burakovsky 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Corey Crawford .852 | Save Percentage | Braden Holtby .949 |
Corey Crawford 23 | Saves | Braden Holtby 37 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Chicago | 39 | 2 | 0-3 | 2-3 | 6 | 28 |
Washington | 27 | 4 | 1-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 27 |