Wilson's goal in third period lifts Capitals past Blackhawks

CHICAGO --Tom Wilson scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to lift the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Sunday.

Wilson scored off a cross-crease pass from Carl Hagelin at 11:47 to make it 4-3 before Lars Eller scored into an empty net with 50 seconds remaining in regulation for the 5-3 final.
John Carlson had an assist for Washington (6-2-2) to become the third defenseman in NHL history to get at least 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) through his team's first 10 games, joining Paul Coffey (20 in 1988-89) and Bobby Orr (18 in 1969-70 and 1973-74).
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T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd, and Alex Ovechkin scored, and Braden Holtby made 41 saves.
"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, Alex Nylander had two assists, and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for Chicago (2-3-1), which went 0-for-5 on the power play.

Kirby Dach, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, was minus-1 in 13:41 of ice time in his NHL debut.
"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."
Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead eight seconds into a power play at 9:25 of the first period after Evgeny Kuznetsov took the puck from Duncan Keith below the goal line and passed to him for a one-timer in front.

Caggiula tied it 1-1 at 8:25 of the second period, shooting into an open net after receiving a no-look backhand pass from Nylander.
"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."
Dowd gave Washington a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 at 9:53 of the second.
"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."
Ovechkin scored on a one-timer from the left circle to extend the lead to 3-1 at 3:52 of the third period. With the primary assist on the play, Carlson extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, 12 assists).
Kubalik cut it to 3-2 on a rebound in front at 6:05 of the third, and Kane tied it 3-3 at 9:58 on a 2-on-1 following a giveaway by Eller.

They said it

"I thought he played well, did some noticeable things where he's hanging onto the puck, big body. He's obviously still a young kid. pretty raw, but for his first game against a really good team, one of the better teams in the League, I thought he was noticeable, had some good shifts. I think there's some chemistry to be built there, so I think we can even be better. Better with him, myself and [Dylan Strome], we can be better for him." -- Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane on Kirby Dach
"They were battling back, they put a lot of pucks on net, they were forechecking really hard. They just didn't really go away. So I think it was a pretty awesome play by [Lars Eller] there after the mistake going out there and creating some offense, and then [Tom Wilson] putting it in the back of the net to regain the lead." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie

Need to know

Oshie has five points (four goals, one assist), including three power-play goals, in a four-game point streak. ... Kubalik had 10 shots on goal. … Holtby has made 67 saves on 72 shots (.931 save percentage) in his past two starts after allowing three goals on three shots against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 14.

What's next

Capitals:At the Calgary Flames on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNF, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV