POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 4, Hawks 2

Three Straight - Consistency has been elusive for the Capitals in the first quarter of the 2018-19 season, but Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks gives the Caps their first three-game winning streak of the season, and it gives them six wins in their last nine games as well.

Washington got an early jump on the Hawks, leaping out to a 2-0 lead before the first television timeout of the first period and basically maintaining it for the rest of the night. The Caps briefly led by three in the middle of the second period, and the Hawks briefly pulled to within one in the middle of the third, but a raft of secondary scoring and 37 saves from Braden Holtby were enough for the Caps to stop a short two-game skid on home ice.
The two goals the Caps scored before the seven-minute mark of the first period on Wednesday equaled their output from their previous two home games combined.
Biting The Hand -Facing his former Chicago teammates for the first time since the Feb. 19 trade that brought him to Washington and forever altered his hockey destiny, Caps defenseman Michal Kempny turned in a strong performance against his former employers. Kempny scored his first goal of the season midway through the second period, and it turned out to be the game-winner.
Kempny also started the play that led to Washington's fourth goal, a critical tally that came at a crucial juncture of the contest, less than two minutes after the Hawks closed to within a goal early in the third.
"It feels a little bit weird," admits Kempny of facing his former team for the first time at the NHL level. "The first period, I was excited for the game. And after the first I was trying a little bit to settle down and keep playing my game and help my team to win."
Kempny did all of that, and then some. For the second straight game, the Caps got a game-winning goal from a player who was sticking it to his former team - Lars Eller supplied the death blow in overtime on Monday when the Caps prevailed over the Canadiens in Montreal.
"He was excited to be a part of tonight's game on our team, and play against them," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "It always adds a little extra fire to guys. I thought he was skating well and it was great to see him get rewarded with a goal there. I thought he had a strong game. He made some good plays at the end - some good blocks - and his skating was a factor, which is always important. I thought he did a good job of breaking pucks out. He was ramped up for it, for sure. He settled into it and had a real strong game."
First Strike -When Tom Wilson returned to the Washington lineup in Minnesota last week, he scored in the final minute of his first period of action after sitting out the first 16 games of the season because of a league suspension.
On Wednesday night in Washington, Wilson received a loud ovation from the locals when he was announced as one of the starters for the Caps' Thanksgiving Eve game against Chicago, his first home game since June 4, which was Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against Vegas.
In his return to action at home, Wilson scored in the first minute of his first period of action. He and linemates Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin spent most of the first minute in the Washington end, but eventually broke the puck out and opted to try to create as opposed to dumping and changing. Wilson finished off a tic-tac-toe sequence with his linemates, chipping an Ovechkin pass high into the top right corner for a 1-0 lead just 54 seconds into the game.
"I'm just trying to go out there and do whatever I can," says Wilson, "Work hard, and I'm playing with very special players, so go to the right areas, and they do the rest. [Ovechkin] looks pretty good passing on that play; he can finish. So give them the puck, get open and try and find the net."
Wilson has been back in the Washington lineup for five games now, playing those five games in nine nights, while averaging a whopping 20:41 a night, second only to Ovechkin's 21:03 among the team's forwards and well above Wilson's single-season best average of 15:59 a night, established last season. Even better, he has recorded a point in four of those five games and has totaled six points (two goals, four assists) since returning to the lineup.
Back In The Saddle Again -Making his first start in 10 days and coming off a strong relief effort in Montreal on Monday, Caps goalie Braden Holtby turned in a sturdy performance, making 37 saves to earn his seventh win of the season.
Holtby is 3-2-0 in his last five appearances (four starts), with a 1.71 GAA and a .950 save pct.
Power Surge - Andre Burakovsky's power-play goal in the first period on Wednesday marked the first extra-man tally produced by Washington's second power-play outfit this season. The goal was also Burakovsky's first power-play point since Feb. 22 when he scored on the man advantage in a game against the Panthers in Florida.
Since losing key power-play performers Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie to injury last week, Burakovsky's goal was Washington's first in a five-on-four power play situation. The Caps got a four-on-three power-play tally from Backstrom in overtime last Friday in Denver, and they got a five-on-three power play goal from Ovechkin on Monday in Montreal.
Climbing The Ladder -John Carlson recorded an assist on Devante Smith-Pelly's third-period goal, Carlson's fourth assist in his last three games. The helper moves him one ahead of Sergei Gonchar for fourth place all-time among Washington defensemen. Carlson has 273 assists in 628 career games with the Capitals; Gonchar needed 654 games to reach 272 helpers.
Carlson now trails Kevin Hatcher (277) by four assists for third place on that list. Calle Johansson (361) is the team's record holder in assists by a blueliner.
Tough Town - Chicago has not won in Washington in nearly 13 years, since a 4-3 overtime victory over the Caps on Jan. 10, 2006. The Caps have won eight straight games over the Hawks in Washington, outscoring Chicago by a combined total of 35-12 in the process. Chicago's last regulation win in Washington came more than 14 years ago, on March 12, 2004.
By The Numbers - Chicago winger Patrick Kane skated 24:36 in Wednesday's game, more than any skater on the Washington side … Hawks center Jonathan Toews won 17 of 22 draws (77%), but his teammates combined to win only 11 of 33 (33%) … Dmitry Orlov played 24 minutes to lead the Caps in ice time … Kempny and Burakovsky led the Caps with three shots on net each … Matt Niskanen paced the Caps with seven blocked shots … Chandler Stephenson won all four of his face-offs and Travis Boyd won six of nine (67%).