Capitals make statement with win over Blackhawks

In their first game the post trade deadline the Washington Capitals showed heart and continued their home dominance over the Chicago Blackhawks by a final score of 4-1.

Hendrix Lapierre struck at 7:01 for his seventh goal of the season. It was set up by John Carlson and Aliaksei Protas. It was Lappy's fifth goal in his last six games. Michael Sgarbossa struck for his third Caps goal of the season at 1:44 later. Trevor van Riemsdyk had the primary while Carlson notched his second assist of the night.

At 13:16 Tom Wilson deflected in a power play goal to make it 3-0 and it was set up by Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin. Shots were even at 12 apiece after one as the Caps led 3-0. The Caps stopped only one Blackhawks power play opportunity they faced up to that point.

Sonny Milano made it four to zip at 17:24 with a wrist shot that came off another assist from Protas. It was Milano's 10th of the season. That would be the score after two and shots were even at eight apiece.

In the third the Blackhawks solved Charlie Lindgren with a goal from Tyler Johnson. Former Capital Zach Sanford had the secondary assist there. It came at 9:49. Other than that one blip Lindgren finished with 29 saves on 30 shots.

The Capitals had the edge in blocked shots 16-8 while the Blackhawks had the 10-6 edge in shots in the final 20 minutes to outshoot the Caps 30-26 but this was a big win for many reasons.

Now the Caps have 69 points and with the Lightning scoring a touchdown and extra point on Philly, the Caps are now three points back of the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Now that's a nice spot to be in. This is March.