Dowd scores twice to power Capitals past Blackhawks

CHICAGO (AP) — Nic Dowd scored twice and the Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday night for their second straight win.

Anthony Mantha, Dylan Strome and Dowd scored in a 7:12 span in the second period to put Washington ahead. Dowd then sealed it with his second of the night and fourth of the season with 4:02 remaining in the third.

Dowd scored his first goal while he was down on the ice after battling in a scrum. He connected again, with his fourth goal in 16 games this season, from the slot on a nice feed from Beck Malenstyn, who had two assists.

“It's hard to score from not in-tight like that,” said Dowd, who missed nine games earlier this season. "Teams play really good defense and it's tough to get a shot off in today's game.

“I felt like I haven't been around the net very often the last week."

Darcy Kuemper stopped 32 shots for the Capitals, rebounding from a start at Arizona last Monday when he allowed three goals on his first five shots and was pulled midway through the first period.

“Sometimes when it goes poorly, like that last game in Arizona, it's not great but you can kind of use it to look at the big picture and get back to the basics,” Kuemper said.

Kuemper rebounded and gave the Capitals solid goaltending after Charlie Lindgren shut down the Rangers in a 4-0 win at home on Saturday night. Kuemper kept it close early when Chicago had ample chances.

“He in those first two periods he was outstanding,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “There was a couple of in-tight, Grade-A's. I felt he made four or five massive saves whether it was 0-0, and just let us get back in the fight.”

Philipp Kurashev had a goal and an assist, and Connor Murphy also scored for Chicago, which ended its first two-game win streak of the season. NHL rookie scoring leader Connor Bedard assisted on both Chicago goals, and Arvid Söderblom had 23 saves.

Chicago had five points in the first three games of a four-game homestand, but couldn't finish it out with a victory.

“I thought we had more of our sustained game in this homestand," Chicago forward Nick Foligno said. “That’s good. But you want to get greedy and really feel good about yourself going on the road.”

Mantha, who has seven goals for the season, has four goals and two assists in his last seven games. Strome, a former Blackhawk, scored his 11th goal and has three in his last three games.

Chicago had the better chances in the scoreless first. During a flurry with about 7:30 left in the period, Kuemper came up with several tough saves, including one on a close-in shot by Lukas Reichel.

Kurashev opened the scoring with a tap-in at 6:49 of the second from the edge of the crease. He converted Seth Jones’ cross-ice feed to cap a crisp passing play started by Bedard.

Mantha tied it on a breakaway 1:22 later. He got past the Chicago defense after taking Connor McMichael’s feed, then beat Söderblom with a sweeping backhander for this ninth goal.

McMichael, the Capitals' first-round draft pick in 2019, played his 100th game.

Strome put Chicago ahead 2-1 with 6:50 left in the period after T.J. Oshie knocked 6-foot-6 Chicago rookie defenseman Alex Vlasic off the puck behind the net with a big hit. Strome was open on the left side on the crease and directed in Joel Edmundson’s feed.

“Tons of energy on our bench from a play like that,” Carbery said. “That creates the goal, but just the physicality part of it.”

Dowd made 3-1 just 93 seconds later to cap a scrum at the net. Dowd had tried to jam in the puck from the pile-up, but it squirted free in front. Malenstyn shot it toward the net and Dowd was credited with knocking it over the goal line.

Dowd made it 4-1 from the slot with 4:02 left in the third. Murphy pinched in and converted Bedard's backhand cross-ice pass with 1:42 left to complete the scoring.

UP NEXT

Capitals: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Blackhawks: At Edmonton on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL