By Well, that was one to forget. The Washington Capitals came into the United Center and absolutely shellacked the Blackhawks by a score of 6-0 tonight. Aside from a handful of nice saves by Corey Crawford, there weren’t many highlights on the Hawks side of things. Regardless, we have you covered on all the action with the game in GIFs.
First Period
On an early rush, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane put together a neat give-and-go chance but were unable to convert.
The big guns were skating for the Capitals tonight, which means Alex Ovechkin was creating scoring chances. Crawford was able to win this battle early in the first period.
Not long after, Colby Williams fired a shot from the point and Liam O’Brien got a piece out in front to deflect it past Crawford for the game’s first goal.
In perhaps the highlight of the night on the Hawks side of things, Corey Crawford came up with a big glove stop.
Lucas Johansen then committed a blatant cross-checking penalty on Drake Caggiula out in front of the Capitals net. Unfortunately, it would set off a string of unsuccessful power plays for the Blackhawks. They finished 0-4 with the man advantage on the night.
Olli Maatta, an offseason trade addition to the Hawks blue line, showed some initiative in the offensive zone by jumping up into the play on this rush. It has been encouraging to see Maatta moving smoothly, as he was banged up last season for Pittsburgh.
The Hawks came close to finding the back of the net on this deflected shot by Patrick Kane, but Dylan Strome was shielded from playing the rebound in front of the net.
After failing to gain control of the puck after a faceoff, the Hawks allowed the Capitals to take advantage when John Carlson‘s shot from the point found the back of the net.
Second Period
Early on in the middle frame, the always-dangerous T.J. Oshie rang a shot off the crossbar.
Olli Maatta showed his willingness to join the rush from the back end once again when he drove in from the right point and tried to stuff a rebound home.
While the Blackhawks were on their third power play of the game, some poor positioning at the opposite end of the ice allowed Tom Wilson to walk into the zone on Erik Gustafsson and drive home a shorthanded bid.
Though the Hawks offense was lifeless tonight, one positive takeaway is seeing guys have a willingness to go to the net. On this chance, both Andrew Shaw and Dominik Kubalik were right on the doorstep looking to pounce.
Andrew Shaw remained active when he delivered a big hit in the corner less than a minute later. After the hit, Tyler Lewington dropped the gloves with Shaw, but it wasn’t much of a fight. Lewington received an instigator penalty in addition to five for fighting, and Shaw received a fighting major and, somehow, a charging penalty on what looked to be a square hit.
Shawzer’s thoughts on the matter. Gotta love it.
Ryan Carpenter turned defense into offense when he took the puck away to prevent a Capitals breakout and followed it up with a pair of chances.
A little over a minute later, Alexander Nylander delivered a cross-ice pass to a streaking Erik Gustafsson, Pheonix Copley came up with the save.
Erik Gustafsson then got caught in a bad position and let Lars Eller get behind him right in front of the goal, which led to a tap-in tally to make it 4-0 Washington.
Third Period
The Capitals didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal with a four-goal lead, as they tested Crawford early on in the third period.
Crawford moves to his left to come up with another nice save.
Dominik Kubalik recorded one of the very few shots on goal in the third period for the Blackhawks.
The Hawks got all sorts of out of position, which led to Jakub Vrana extending the Capitals lead to five.
The positional woes continued for the Blackhawks, which allowed Lars Eller to score an easy tap-in goal that made the score 6-0 Capitals.
Jeremy Colliton speaks on behalf of all Hawks fans regarding tonight’s performance.
What’s Next?
It’s off to Europe for the Blackhawks, where they will play one more preseason contest against Eisbaren Berlin on Sunday before opening the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers in Prague as part of the NHL Global Series next Friday.
Featured Photo: NHLBlackhawks/Twitter
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