Oliver Moore scored, and Drew Commesso made 19 saves for the Blackhawks (18-19-7) in his second NHL start and third game in the League, all for Chicago. Commesso, recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League on Friday, was in net with goalies Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom each out because of illness. Commesso last played in the NHL on Dec. 14, 2024.
Connor Bedard returned to the Chicago lineup after missing 12 games with an upper-body injury sustained Dec. 12 during a 3-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues. The center did not have a point and finished with four shots on goal in 17:07 of ice time.
“I felt fine,” he said. “It was kind of one of those games where the puck was bouncing around a little bit, tough to get a lot of crisp pucks. But I definitely have better, and we obviously have better as a team.”
The Blackhawks also were without forward Ilya Mikheyev and defenseman Louis Crevier because of illness.
“Yeah, I just didn’t think we had it,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “What’s the reason? [We] certainly talk about no excuses, but the reality is, a lot of guys didn’t feel very good. So, there’s reality in there. You call up some guys late. ‘Spence’ got sick really late, and I thought Drew went in and played good, but that puts him in a tough spot.
“All that stuff, it is what it is. It’s one of those nights that happens in the League, and it happened to us tonight and it’ll affect us again tomorrow (at the Nashville Predators). We’ll have to find a way with the lineup. We have a good enough lineup for sure to go win a hockey game. We’ve got to play better than we did.”
Anthony Beauvillier put the Capitals ahead 1-0 at 4:03 of the first period. He scored from below the right face-off circle by redirecting Fehervary’s shot from the left point.
McMichael made it 2-0 on a breakaway at 15:07. He took a pass at the red line from Leonard, skated into the offensive zone and put the puck between Commesso’s pads with a forehand shot after splitting defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Kevin Korchinski.
“‘Lenny’ made a really nice heads-up play to find me,” McMichael said. “Luckily I was able to beat them up ice and then just find a hole there in the five-hole. I feel like I’ve had a lot of those chances, so it’s nice to see one go in like that.”
