Jan. 02--The summary
Former Blackhawks winger Troy Brouwer came back to haunt his old teammates when he scored with 12.9 seconds left in the third period Thursday to give the Capitals a 3-2 victory in the 2015 Winter Classic at Nationals Park in Washington.
After Jonathan Toews was sent off for hooking, Brouwer, who was a key member of the Hawks' 2010 Stanley Cup champions, cashed in on the power play to snap the Hawks' two-game winning streak. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist and Eric Fehr also scored for the Caps while Braden Holtby outdueled Hawks netminder Corey Crawford to earn the win.
Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad had goals for the Hawks as they rallied from an early 2-0 deficit.
Key moment
With the game apparently headed to overtime, Brouwer spun and fired a shot from the left circle that eluded Crawford to the glove side and set off a wild celebration from the Capitals and many in the crowd of 42,832.
Tribune's three stars
1. Ovechkin: The veteran winger was dangerous the entire game in propelling the Caps' offense.
2. Brouwer: Veteran winger was rewarded for hard work in front of the net.
3. Sharp: The Hawks' most visible offensive player had a game-high 10 shots on goal.
Big number
5: Toews' points in outdoor games, the most in NHL history.
The quote
"It's tough to swallow. (We were) so close to getting a point. The goal is to get a point (every game) and you never know what happens from there in overtime or a shootout. Regardless of what happens, we don't want to give up that goal in the last minute." -- Hawks forward Ben Smith
Up next
Vs. the Stars at 7 p.m. Sunday at the United Center.
