So far this preseason, the Washington Capitals have lost in shutout fashion and in overtime after making a late comeback. Add blowing a late lead to that.
The Caps entered the third period with a 1-0 lead, but two goals from Viktor Stalberg within a span of about four minutes gave the Blackhawks enough momentum to hold on for a 3-2 victory.
Joel Ward scored his first goal as a Cap when he deflected in Alex Ovechkin's shot late in the first period. No scoring in the second period led to four goals in the third, but only one was for Washington. Matt Hendricks took advantage of a Steve Montador turnover and beat Corey Crawford for his first goal of the preseason at 12:22 to tie the game at 2-2 after Stalberg's outburst. Yet, Brandon Saad's second point of the night came when he shot the puck past Tomas Vokoun to give the Blackhawks the lead for good at 16:39
In his first start for Washington, Vokoun made 23 saves on 26 shots and looked solid for 40 minutes before giving up three goals in the third period.
The Caps return to action Monday when they skate onto the ice at Verizon Center for the first time since May against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.