Ovechkin, Capitals defeat Blackhawks in Bedard return

CHICAGO -- Alex Ovechkin scored his fourth goal in the past three games, and the Washington Capitals ended the Chicago Blackhawks’ four-game winning streak with a 5-1 victory at United Center on Friday.

Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist, and John Carlson, Martin Fehervary and Ryan Leonard each had two assists for the Capitals (23-16-6), who had lost three of four. Logan Thompson, who had lost his previous four starts (0-3-1), made 23 saves.

“Yeah, I feel like I was cursed for a while,” Thompson said. “I’ve been feeling pretty good about my game. I couldn’t find a way to get a point or even two points. Really happy. The guys in front of me were tremendous tonight, made my life easy. Just happy with the two points. I don’t care how many goals I let in today. I just wanted a win.”

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.”

McMichael said the victory was especially nice because it came on the team’s fathers/mentors trip.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “It all started [Thursday], just having that reception and the little dinner. You could just tell the vibes were up. Everyone was having fun, enjoying their time. I think we carried that into today. A lot of credit goes to the dads and the mentors.”

Ethen Frank increased Washington’s lead to 3-0 at 18:54. Carlson threw the puck from the left-wing boards toward the net, and Frank picked it up and scored from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Moore cut it to 3-1 on the power play at 8:48 of the second period with his second goal in two games. He scored with a high wrist shot from the left circle.

Justin Sourdif restored the Capitals’ three-goal lead by pushing it to 4-1 at 12:38, jamming the puck over Commesso’s left pad at the right post after a scramble in the crease.

Ovechkin then made it a 5-1 final at 12:33 of the third period with his 19th goal of the season. He kept the puck on a 2-on-1 with Aliaksei Protas and scored with a wrist shot from the left circle.

The emergency backup goalie for the Blackhawks was 45-year-old Dave Nozzolillo, a native of Upper Queensbury, New Brunswick. He was on the 2000-01 roster for Lake Forest College, a Division III NCAA school in Lake Forest, Illinois, about 30 miles north of Chicago.

NOTES: Ovechkin is one goal shy of surpassing Ron Francis for the second-most 20-goal seasons in NHL history (21) and moving within one of Gordie Howe’s League record (22). … Ovechkin scored on Commesso in their first game against each other, increasing his NHL record for highest number of goaltenders scored on to 187 … Forward Aliaksei Protas returned to the Capitals lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. He had one shot on goal and was plus-1 in 16:12 of ice time. … Blackhawks forward Nick Lardis, 20, got his first NHL assist in his 13th game. … Chicago had a five-game point streak end (4-0-1).