The Chicago Blackhawks celebrate Nick Foligno’s game-winning shootout goal on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks)

The Chicago Blackhawks looked to continue to add to the win column on Saturday night as they went to the nation’s capital to face the Washington Capitals. The Hawks were coming off a win at home against the Dallas Stars on the first of the year, taking down one of the leading teams in the NHL in the process.

The lineup would remain the same as the game versus Dallas, with Spencer Knight getting another start between the pipes.

First period

The Blackhawks started off strong in this game, with their first goal coming just over a minute into the period. Ilya Mikheyev put a wrister in the direction of the net, with Ryan Donato getting his stick on it. He tipped it through the five-hole of Logan Thompson, putting the Blackhawks up 1-0 early.

wasting no time getting down to business💼 pic.twitter.com/CIexbjRTnE

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 4, 2026

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Three and a half minutes later, though, the Capitals would get that one back. Old friend Dylan Strome would pick up the rebound off of a Knight pad save and put it to the back of the net, knotting things up 1-1. The period would end the same way that it started, all tied up.

Second period

The Blackhawks got the first power play of the game in the second period. Jakob Chychrun got called for roughing on Colton Dach, putting the Blackhawks on the mad advantage. It took them just over a minute to score, but they retook the lead. Tyler Bertuzzi fed Teuvo Teravainen in the left circle, and he beat Thompson just under the crossbar, 2-1 Chicago.

turbo on the power play🙌 pic.twitter.com/saHNm3tqn4

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 4, 2026

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The Capitals got one good chance later in the period from Connor McMichael, but Knight proved up to the task and keep his pad down to keep the puck out. The Blackhawks carried the 2-1 lead into the third period.

Third period

The Capitals got their first power play of the game on a Wyatt Kaiser trip of Alex Ovechkin. They didn’t generate too many opportunities, with the Blackhawks managing to kill it off without a lot of trouble. A few minutes after the penalty expired, the Capitals managed to tie it up. The puck found its way back to Matt Roy at the point. He put a wrister on net with Ryan Leonard in front. He got his stick on the puck just enough to tip it over the arm of Knight, knotting it up at 2-2. The third would end up all tied, sending this one to overtime.

Overtime and shootout

Overtime went by without much happening, with the Blackhawks managing two shots and the Capitals not getting a single one on net. The Blackhawks got a late power play with under a minute to go, but couldn’t convert, sending it to the shootout.

In the first round, the Blackhawks scored, with Nick Lardis putting on some moves to get the puck past Thompson.

a twirl of the stick for the rookie🫡 pic.twitter.com/7GWCW0voev

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 4, 2026

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Then, Strome came through again for the Capitals to knot it back up again. The next three shooters were stopped by both goalies. Then, in the fifth round, Sonny Milano and Andre Burakovsky both scored, keeping things knotted up. In the sixth, the Blackhawks got the game-winner from the captain, as Nick Foligno put the puck past Thompson to win it 3-2 in the shootout.

Analysis

Starting off rough after losing Connor Bedard to injury in December, it looked like the Blackhawks might just be as bad as they were two years ago. That has changed as of late, with the team playing well despite the loss of several players to injury, and getting the job done despite some rough underlying statistics. The one area that needs improvement desperately is the faceoff dot, where the Blackhawks consistently get beat game after game.

Beating quality teams in Dallas and now Washington back to back, the Blackhawks look to take down the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night at the United Center. That game will be at 6 p.m. CST on CHSN.

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