In Chicago, the visiting Washington Capitals had been unable to put much distance between themselves and the Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Tom Wilson struck for a goal at 11:47 to give the Caps a 4-3 lad after the Hawks had rallied from a 1-3 deficit to tie the game.
Braden Holtby made 41 saves in the win.
“I think [Holtby] had his calm demeanor back, for sure,” Wilson said. “He played really well, and sometimes that’s what you need coming into a hostile building against a team that’s playing pretty well.
“He was great on the back end, he gave us a chance to find our feet a little bit and we were able to capitalize when it counted. It’s a great road win to kind of start us off (on this five-game road trip). It’s not an easy two points in this building, and we’re happy to start off on the right foot.”
Drake Caggiula, Dominik Kubalik and Patrick Kane scored for Chicago.
“I think we dictated most of the play tonight and we weren’t rewarded for it, but that’s the way hockey works sometimes,” Caggiula said. “You don’t always get the bounces, you don’t always get the results you’re looking for, even if you play the prototypical game or the perfect game. We didn’t get rewarded tonight, but this is something we can build off of heading into the next one.”
T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd, and Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington.
“It was a good turning point there,” Dowd said. “Obviously, unlucky on the [double-minor penalty], but you try and take momentum away any time you can, you know? Our power play got us going early with momentum. Special teams was a big factor tonight.”
Lars Eller sealed the win with an empty net goal.
[WATCH:Â All Capitals vs. Blackhawks Highlights]
Corey Crawford made 25 saves in the loss.
Kirby Dach made his NHL debut for the Blackhawks.
“Obviously, you want to win in your first game and help the team that way, but I felt good out there,” Dach said. “At the same time, there’s things I can clean up in my game to kind of help the team moving forward.”
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