Jan 3 vs. Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals (21-15-5)
Chicago Blackhawks (15-18-7)
Two days after opening the New Year north of the border with a 4-3 loss to the Senators in Ottawa, the Caps open a three-game homestand – and the second half of the 2025-26 season – on Saturday night when they host the Chicago Blackhawks. It’s the first meeting between the Caps and Hawks this season, and the two teams will finish up their season series in the Windy City less than a week from now, on Jan. 9.
Coming out of the NHL’s three-day holiday break, the Caps were tasked with playing four games in a span of six calendar days, but in reality, the four games were played across a span of about 117 hours – less than five actual 24-hour days – with travel involved for each one.
Given those circumstances, coming out of that stretch with a 2-2-0 record and four standings points is not a bad outcome; the two wins came against fellow Metro Division occupants New Jersey and the New York Rangers and the setbacks came at the hands of a couple of Atlantic Division denizens, Florida and Ottawa. The Caps are 9-3-2 against Metro foes and are just 4-8-2 against Atlantic opposition this season.
But although Thursday’s game was the second half of a set of back-to-back games for Washington, it was also an opportunity to string a couple of wins together, something the Caps haven’t done since the last game of a six-game winning streak a month ago in San Jose, on Dec. 3.
Typically, when the Caps scuffle in matinee matches, it’s a slow start that seals their fate. Washington came out of the gates strong Thursday in Ottawa, playing a strong first 20 minutes and taking a 2-0 lead, but for the first time all season, the Caps lost hold of a multi-goal lead in the loss.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Washington held a 6-0 first-period advantage in high danger scoring chances at 5-on-5. Over the final 40 minutes however, Ottawa took over to the tune of 8-1 in high danger opportunities. When Aliaksei Protas converted a Justin Sourdif feed with 4:07 left in the third – on the Caps’ only high danger chance in the final two periods at 5-on-5 – it ended a run of three straight Ottawa goals and evened the score at 3-3, giving the Caps a chance to scrape a point from the game. But a late goal from Fabian Zetterlund scotched those hopes, ending a three-game slide (0-2-1) for the Sens, who entered Thursday’s game after being idle the two previous games.
“We started out strong, but they seemed like they had more legs than us in the second and third, and we weren't able to sustain any pressure,” says Caps center Dylan Strome. “You see what teams do to us sometimes, they're able to create constant [offensive] zone shifts where we're on our toes and on our back foot, and we're just praying to get off the ice. And right now, I think we're built that way to do that to teams, and right now we're just not doing it well, whether it's not great changes, or just not holding onto pucks or whatever it is. But it seems like we're the ones being on our back foot, and we’re not tilting the ice their way.”
Given the two teams’ respective schedules since the break, the Caps’ inability to sustain their strong start in Thursday’s game is understandable. But to them, it’s not acceptable and the schedule is no excuse.
“We just had three days off, so I don’t think the back-to-back has any reason to do with it,” says Caps goaltender Logan Thompson. “You look at the first period, and we looked like we were ready to go. And again, they’re a good team. They’ve been hungry as of late and they took it to us. So, just take the day [Friday] – a day off – and get right back to work.”
You’ve got to win one before you can win two, so the Caps will again try to start stringing some victories together as the schedule now delivers them a game every odd day of January for more than three weeks, beginning with Thursday’s game in Ottawa. They will also have the luxury of playing six of their next eight games at home, with a pair of three-game homestands sandwiched around the Mentors’ Trip, which takes the Caps to Chicago and Nashville, respectively, next weekend.
Since their six-game winning streak ended a month ago, the Caps have been treading water, and they’ve gradually been sliding south in the tightly jammed Eastern Conference and Metro Division standings. They’re 4-6-3 in their last 13 games.
“We’ve got to find a way to fix it, because this back-and-forth stuff isn't going to get you very far,” says Strome. “So, we’ve got to find a way to string some wins together. And I feel like this team can do that.”
Midway through November, the Hawks had a credible 10-5-4 record as the season approached the quarter mark. But the Blackhawks also have not been able to cobble together consecutive victories for quite some time, a month and a half in their case. Chicago last tasted victory in consecutive contests after vanquishing Toronto and Calgary, respectively, on home ice Nov. 15 and 18. The Hawks are 5-13-3 in 16 games since; only Winnipeg (3-13-4) has a worse record over that span.
Chicago started the New Year off on the right foot, holding off a late Dallas push in a 4-3 home ice win over the Stars on Thursday night. The Hawks have been playing without both Connor Bedard (shoulder) and Frank Nazar (upper body), a pair of top six forwards and recent first-rounders. Bedard, the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has missed the last nine games and Nazar – the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft – has been absent for the last five.
