Banged-up Blackhawks still have enough to beat Capitals: numbers for the morning after

"No Connor Bedard, no Frank Nazar, and the Capitals still got dominated five-on-five by one of the worst teams in the league. The Blackhawks owned 57.5 percent of the shot attempts, 53 percent of the scoring chances, and 55.6 percent of the expected goals. I know the Capitals were also missing three of their top forwards, but they still have plenty enough to beat a team that will be all over the draft lottery again."

"Logan Thompson is still having all sorts of trouble in the shootout, but he was also probably the biggest reason why the Capitals were even able to get to that point in this game. He made 31 stops on 33 shots faced, and per MoneyPuck, saved 1.29 more goals than expected. Spencer Knight made 32 stops and saved 1.28 more goals than expected at the other end."

"Strome has registered eight points (3g, 5a) in seven games against Chicago since joining the Capitals ahead of the 2022-23 season. https://t.co/MSYtTfG82f - Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) January 4, 2026 With all the injuries, Connor McMichael played a whole bunch of the game, skating 22:07 of ice time. McMichael created the most individual expected goals (0.84) on the Capitals, but remains heavily snakebitten with any sort of finish."

The Washington Capitals lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Chicago Blackhawks after earning a third-period goal to tie the game and secure a losers point. Chicago controlled play five-on-five, holding 57.5% of shot attempts, 53% of scoring chances, and 55.6% of expected goals despite missing key forwards. Ryan Leonard produced offensively with points in three straight games. Logan Thompson made 31 saves and saved 1.29 goals above expectation but struggled in the shootout; Spencer Knight saved 32 and 1.28 above expectation. Connor McMichael logged 22:07, created 0.84 individual expected goals, and Hendrix Lapierre saw 6:52 of ice time.

Read at RMNB