Dec. 17 vs. Chicago Blackhawks at United Center
Time: 8:30 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (21-7-2)
Chicago Blackhawks (10-19-2)
A night after their 10-game road winning streak and nine-game point streak (8-0-1) were snapped at the hands of the Stars in Dallas, the Caps are in Chicago to finish off a set of back-to-back games.
Washington’s Dylan Strome scored the game’s first goal late in the first period of Monday’s game in Dallas, but the Caps – who had the game’s first three power play opportunities – were unable to build on that lead. The Stars – who haven’t lost to an Eastern Conference foe at American Airlines Arena in more than nine months – struck for a pair of goals late in the second period and another late in the third to skate off with a 3-1 victory.
Monday’s game had the feel of a playoff game; it was spirited and chippy, and time and space were precious commodities at both ends of the ice. Both goaltenders – Washington’s Charlie Lindgren and Dallas’ Jake Oettinger, who share the same hometown of Lakeville, Minn. – were at the top of their respective games as well.
Washington has yet to beat Oettinger in his five career starts against the Caps. Elite goaltenders can force shooters to overthink and can make them put too fine a point on their shots, and both effects were evident in Monday’s game. The Caps sometimes passed themselves out of a scoring opportunity in search of a better one, and they grazed some iron behind Oettinger while missing the net on 18 of their shot tries. Seventeen other Washington attempts fell victim to Dallas bodies and shin pads.
“I felt like we did a pretty good job overall, the whole game,” says Strome. “I feel like we didn't have any lapses. And I’m not sure exactly, but it felt like we controlled the play for the most part. But we just couldn't get pucks through as well as we have in the past. But I feel like if we play like that most nights, I like our chances; we played a pretty good game.
“Move on, move on to [Tuesday], and try to forget about it. We've been really good on the road, so just, so let's just stick to what we've been doing. And I like our chances most nights.”
After Monday’s game in Dallas, the Caps learned they would be staying over in the Lone Star State and flying to Chicago in the morning. Traveling and arriving in a city on the same day of the game is rather routine for NHL teams in the preseason, but – aside from Dec. 27 of each year when a few clubs do so after the League’s annual holiday break – it’s a super rare and unusual occurrence in the regular season. But that’s what the Caps will be doing on Tuesday ahead of their tilt with the Blackhawks at United Center.
In addition to playing for the second time in as many nights on Tuesday, the Capitals will be arriving in the Windy City midday after a midmorning flight out of Dallas.
Aside from Dec. 27 games, travel on a game day is rare. The NHL’s annual Dec. 24-26 holiday break mandates no travel on those days, so teams that play on the road on Dec. 27 each year must travel on the day of the game. While travel woes – especially those not involving weather – are relatively rare in the NHL, they do crop up from time to time. In fact, the last time – Dec. 27 notwithstanding – the Caps traveled and arrived in a city and played there the same night was three years ago on this very day when they departed Chicago on the morning of Dec. 17, 2021 and flew to Winnipeg with a severely undermanned roster because of a COVID-19 outbreak.
Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov had already been sent home from the trip after testing positive, and Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway and Trevor van Riemsdyk didn’t even make the trip; they tested positive before the Caps left DC. Also not on the trip were Anthony Mantha and Tom Wilson, both of whom were sidelined with upper body ailments.
Just as they were about to go wheels up from Chicago to Winnipeg, the Capitals learned that Jets coach Paul Maurice had stepped down that morning, and assistant coach Dave Lowry would take over behind the bench on an interim basis.
Missing seven regulars, the Caps put out a lineup with Lars Eller centering the top line, and with Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael and Mike Sgarbossa behind him. Washington also deployed seven defensemen and 11 forwards in the game, with blueliner Matt Irwin taking the odd shift on the wing.
Washington withstood being on the wrong side of a 20-9 shot disparity in the first period; netminder Vitek Vanecek was brilliant in keeping the door closed in a scoreless first. The Caps got goals from Brett Leason and Daniel Sprong in the second, and Vanecek’s 40-save performance sealed the deal in a 5-2 Washington win. It was the first time in over a decade the Capitals traveled on the day of a game during the regular season, again excluding Dec. 27 games.
The Caps have faced and successfully solved greater challenges this season, and they’ve proved to be a resilient bunch through the first 30 games of the 2024-25 campaign. While Tuesday’s situation is not ideal, they’ll forge ahead and look to start up another road winning streak on Tuesday in the Windy City.
With 22 points on the season to date, Chicago is tied with Nashville for the fewest in the NHL. The Blackhawks dismissed third-year head coach Luke Richardson on Dec. 5, replacing him with interim head coach Anders Sorensen, who had been the head coach of the team’s AHL Rockford affiliate. Sorensen compiled a 117-89-16-7 record in 229 games as the IceHogs’ head coach.
Since taking over for Richardson, Sorensen’s Hawks are 2-3-0. Most recently, they downed the New York Islanders by a 5-3 count on Sunday afternoon in Chicago in the opener of their three-game homestand. Seattle follows the Caps into United Center on Thursday night.
Tuesday’s game in Chicago marks the 100th career NHL game for sophomore center Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Bedard leads the Hawks in scoring with 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists), and he – still more than six months shy of his 20th birthday – has already rolled up 87 points (29 goals, 58 assists).
