LDN - Sports

Caps blank Blackhawks, 6-0

[January 14, 2017] WASHINGTON -- Fourth-line center Jay Beagle doesn't have an answer for his success against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Beagle scored twice, Braden Holtby picked up his third shutout in nine days, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Blackhawks 6-0 Friday night at Verizon Center for their eighth straight win.

Beagle has scored twice in both of Washington's wins over Chicago this season and has six career goals against Chicago in eight games. He has 33 goals in 345 games vs. the rest of the league.

"Tonight, it was great play from my linemates, just created something," Beagle said after his fourth career two-goal game. "You know, it is kind of weird, I don't know. I don't have an answer for it."

One of Beagle's linemates, Tom Wilson, had a goal and two assists, and T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom each notched a goal and an assist. Brett Connolly and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington (28-9-5), while Lars Eller and Nate Schmidt each had two assists for the defending Presidents' Trophy winners.

Holtby stopped 24 shots for his sixth shutout of the season. Since allowing five goals in a 6-5 win over the Maple Leafs, Holtby has not been reached for an even-strength goal in his last five starts.

"I worked on a few things that I wanted to get better at, but we've been playing pretty well through that stretch too and we've got a bit of luck here and there with a couple posts and such," Holtby said. "There's still things to work on but our game and my game are going in the right direction."

Corey Crawford made 25 saves for Chicago (27-13-5), which had won four straight. Crawford was lifted in favor of Scott Darling after Oshie's shot deflected in off Niklas Hjalmarsson at 8:11 of the third period to make it 5-0 and Beagle later closed out the scoring.

"Certainly nothing good to talk about tonight," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was a big game to start with and we didn't meet the challenge."

Chicago center Jonathan Toews said the Blackhawks can get something out of one of their worst games of the season.

"You can't forget those games. You've got to let them sink in, you've got to learn from them," he said. "You've got to use it, get (angry) and use it the right away. Address the glaring issues that were present in that type of game."

Washington got three goals from three different lines in the opening period.

Beagle made it 1-0 at 5:04 when his wrist shot from the top of the left circle skittered through Crawford's pads. It was the seventh of the season for Beagle, who had two goals in the teams' Nov. 11 meeting.

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Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) skates with the puck as Washington Capitals left wing Andre Burakovsky (65) defends in the second period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Washington doubled its lead 13 seconds later on a pretty passing sequence started by Alex Ovechkin. He skated in along the left boards and centered to Oshie, who rather than shooting, backhanded a pass over to a streaking Backstrom, who one-timed a shot past Crawford for his 12th goal.

Connolly closed on the first period scoring with 2:11 left. Eller couldn't get good wood on a loose puck in front of Crawford and, as the puck slid to the right of Crawford, Connolly came out from behind the net and banged it home.

Chicago had the better of the chances early in the second period and appeared to score at 6:32 when Duncan Keith's shot deflected off a Washington player and across the ice to Vinnie Hinostroza, who fired it home. Capitals head coach Barry Trotz challenged the play however and, after a review, it was ruled that Marian Hossa interfered with Holtby as the goalie slid across the crease.

Wilson made it 4-0 with 2:59 left in the second when he tapped in a cross-ice pass from a falling Nate Schmidt just after Washington killed off a Chicago power play.

"We don't really look at ourselves as a fourth line," Beagle said. "We want to contribute offensively and we feel like we can..."

NOTES: The Capitals announced that Sunday's home game against the Flyers has been moved from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on NBC. ... Washington D Karl Alzner played in his 500th consecutive game, becoming just the third NHL defenseman since the 1943-44 season to achieve that feat. ... D Taylor Chorney was scratched for Washington. ... Blackhawks winger Richard Panik (10 goals, eight assists) has set a career high for points in a season. ... C Marcus Kruger (upper body injury) and D Michael Kempny were the Chicago scratches. ... Capitals coach Barry Trotz (1,402) passed Ron Wilson for seventh place on the NHL games coached list.

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