Capitals spoil Connor Bedard's return with 5-1 win over Blackhawks

Connor McMichael had a goal and assist and John Carlson, Martin Fehervary and Ryan Leonard earned two assists apiece to lift the visiting Washington Capitals to a 5-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.

Anthony Beauvillier, Ethen Frank, Justin Sourdif and Alex Ovechkin also scored for the Capitals, while Logan Thompson made 23 saves on 24 shots.

Chicago saw its season-high four-game winning streak snapped despite the return of star center Connor Bedard from a shoulder injury.

Plagued by the flu, the Blackhawks were missing multiple regulars as well as both goaltenders, prompting the recall of netminder Drew Commesso from AHL affiliate Rockford before the game.

Commesso stopped 19 of 24 shots in his third NHL appearance and first career home start after yielding three goals on six shots in the first period.

Washington opened the scoring at 4:03 as Beauvillier redirected a Carlson pass past Commesso while skating to the back post.

McMichael extended the lead to 2-0 about 11 minutes later, splitting two Blackhawks inside the center line and converting a breakaway. Frank beat Commesso on a wrist shot from in front of the net to make it 3-0 at 18:54.

Oliver Moore got the Blackhawks on the board with a power-play goal at 8:48 of the second period. There were just a few seconds left on the man advantage when he beat Thompson on a snipe from the left circle. Rookie Nick Lardis picked up his first career assist on the play.

Sourdif restored a three-goal edge less than four minutes later, stuffing a loose puck into the net. Ovechkin accounted for the final margin at 13:33 of the third, scoring on a 2-on-1. Commesso became the 187th goalie to allow an Ovechkin goal.

Bedard, the Blackhawks' leading scorer, had four shots in 17:07 in his first action following a 12-game absence.

Moore has scored in back-to-back games while Ovechkin has scored in three straight.

Chicago coach Jeff Blashill was feeling under the weather during morning skate but was on the bench for the game.

Washington activated center Aliaksei Protas (upper body) from injured reserve before the game after he missed the past three contests.