Knight shines as Blackhawks outlast Capitals in shootout
Jan 3, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight (30) prepares to make a save on Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd (26) during the first period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Spencer Knight steadied Chicago with 32 saves to help lift the Blackhawks past the host Washington Capitals 3-2 in the shootout on Saturday night.
Nick Foligno buried the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Blackhawks the victory.
Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen found the back of the net in regulation for Chicago, while Dylan Strome and Ryan Leonard tallied regulation goals for the Capitals to force the overtime at 2-2.
Washington's Logan Thompson made 31 saves in the loss.
Donato gave the visiting team an early boost as he tipped Ilya Mikheyev's wrist shot past Thompson just over a minute into the contest.
Strome found an equalizer just under five minutes into the opening period as he picked up a juicy rebound and fired it into the back of the net.
The Capitals caught a tough break late in the first as leading scorer Tom Wilson left the game after coming down awkwardly and played only just under six minutes.
Teravainen retook the lead for the Blackhawks on a power play with 15:36 left in the second period.
The Finnish winger caught a feed from Tyler Bertuzzi and placed his short-side shot just under the crossbar.
Capitals forward Connor McMichael dangled his way past a couple of Blackhawks' defenders, but Knight got his toe in front of the shot to deny a possible highlight-reel goal with just over 11 minutes left in the middle frame.
Nic Dowd snapped his shot off the crossbar with 2:24 left in the second as the Capitals kept firing pucks toward the Blackhawks' net.
Just over a minute later, Dowd met the same result as he saw his slot shot bounce off the post and away.
Thompson continued his strong showing as he sprawled across the crease to deny Bertuzzi and keep the deficit at one with 13:42 left in the third period.
Leonard finally found the game-tying goal with 8:42 left in the third as he battled out in front of the net and tapped the puck past Knight.
Chicago had a short 4-on-3 man advantage in the final minute of overtime but was unable to find the game winner.
Nick Lardis, Andre Burakovsky and Foligno scored in the shootout for the Blackhawks, while Strome and Sonny Milano found the net for the Capitals.
--Field Level Media
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