NBC’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
The Capitals have hit their biggest road block in their title defense after going 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, including four straight losses (0-3-1). The last time Washington lost four straight games was in March of 2017. During this four-game losing streak, the Caps have been outscored 12-1 in 5-on-5 play, and the lone goal in that scenario came against Nashville with the team trailing 7-1 late in the third period.
The last time the Capitals lost five straight games was Oct. 26 to Nov. 4 2014.
Alex Ovechkin enters this game tied with Dave Andreychuk for 14th place on the all-time goals (640) list. He is also only five points away from tying Hockey Hall of Famer Sergei Fedorov for the most in League history by a Russian player (1,179).
The Blackhawks have lost seven of their eight games in the new year (1-4-3), including five straight losses (0-3-2) and are once again last in the NHL. Since Jeremy Colliton took charge on November 6, Chicago has lost 24 of their 34 games under their new head coach (10-18-6) after going 6-6-3 in 15 games under Joel Quenneville. The Hawks are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Rangers on Thursday.
A bright spot for Chicago has been its power play which has now scored in seven consecutive games (9-for-21, 42.9 percent). That hot streak has put them in the middle of the pack in the NHL at 18.9 percent for the season. [WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 12:30 P.M. ET – NBC]
What: Washington Capitals at Chicago Blackhawks Where: United Center When: Sunday, Jan. 20, 12:30 p.m. ET TV: NBC Live stream: You can watch the Capitals-Blackhawks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLACKHAWKS Drake Caggiula - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane Alex DeBrincat - Dylan Strome - Dominik Kahun Brandon Saad - David Kampf - Marcus Kruger John Hayden - Artem Anisimov - Chris Kunitz
Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook Carl Dahlstrom - Connor Murphy Slater Koekkoek - Erik Gustafsson
Starting goalie: Collin Delia
CAPITALS Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - T.J. Oshie Jakub Vrana - Lars Eller - Tom Wilson Andre Burakovsky - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Brett Connolly Chandler Stephenson - Nic Dowd - Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov - John Carlson Michal Kempny - Matt Niskanen Brooks Orpik - Madison Bowey
Starting goalie: Braden Holtby
Six-time Emmy Award-winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk, and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Pierre McGuire will have the call from United Center.