Savard expects more from Hawks
WASHINGTON - After a second straight loss to start the season here Saturday night, Blackhawks coach Denis Savard delivered a message to his better players that things must change, and quickly.
"You fight for inches in this game to be a top player, and if you don't want to do it you're not going to be a top player," Savard said after watching Washington's best player, Alexander Ovechkin, score twice in the Capitals' 4-2 victory at the Verizon Center.
Savard started Nikolai Khabibulin in goal, and he was very good, but the line of Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien was a combined minus-8 with 6 shots on goals.
Martin Havlat had 5 of the Hawks' 21 shots, but they were hardly difficult ones for Capitals goalie Jose Theodore to handle.
Defenseman Brent Sopel was minus-3 and now has been on the ice for 6 of the 8 goals the Hawks have allowed.
"Their top guys got the job done for them," Savard said. "(Ovechkin is) a great player, and you look at him how he plays and he wins his battles. That's why he's a star player.
"If you want to be a star player in this league you have to do it every night, not just once in awhile."
The Hawks actually jumped on the Capitals for a 2-0 lead less than 12 minutes into the game on goals by Kris Versteeg and Jack Skille. But a turnover by Craig Adams at the end of a shift in the neutral zone led to Matt Bradley's goal at 13:36.
Adams got only one more shift after that.
The Capitals tied it at 5:08 of the second period when Sharp turned the puck over at the Washington blue line and Ovechkin converted it into his first goal.
"I made a turnover that was inexcusable," Sharp said. "It shouldn't have happened for a number of different reasons. That's something as an assistant captain and someone that's supposed to be a leader in this locker room just can't do."
The Capitals outshot the Hawks 28-11 in the second and third periods. Only Khabibulin kept them from being blown out of the building.
"He was awesome. Very solid," Savard said.
It was Khabibulin's first appearance since April. He didn't play in the preseason because of the situation in which the Hawks placed him on waivers, then tried to trade him when he cleared.
"I'm not surprised," Savard said. "He's been professional about everything the whole year here."
Brooks Laich snapped a 2-2 tie with 4:27 to play on a goal that took several minutes to review. Replays showed Khabibulin swatted the puck away after it had crossed the goal line in midair.
"It's not fun to lose a game like that," Khabibulin said. "I don't think we played a really strong game, but at the same time it was a tight game with 4 minutes to go."
The Hawks went 0-for-5 on the power play and are 0-for-8 in two games.
"It's extremely frustrating," Sharp said. "We've got high expectations. Everyone has high expectations this time of the season, but it's not the start you really wanted."