CHICAGO — Nate Schmidt started to pull up as he and Chicago's Richard Panik raced for a puck crossing the goal line in Washington's zone. The Capitals were expecting an icing call, but a whistle never came.

With two Washington players battling Panik for the puck, he was able to kick it out in front of the crease, where Dennis Rasmussen was left all alone, Jay Beagle and Brooks Laich trailing well behind after seeming to anticipate a stoppage. Rasmussen scored, and the goal was the clincher for the Blackhawks in a 3-2 win over the Capitals.

For Washington, it was a game of missed opportunities that was decided by Chicago's capitalization on chances like that one.

“I think the refs made a couple of bad calls and they used it,” Alex Ovechkin said.

“Tough night for the linesmen tonight, I'll tell you,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.

Beagle said he and Laich weren't easing up on the play, but checking the location of Chicago's defensemen behind them. “We should have hemmed them in there and shut it down right there,” Beagle said. Goaltender Braden Holtby said “everyone” was expecting an icing whistle.

“It's not an excuse,” Holtby said. “Calls are made like that every game. We have to make sure we're aware, and obviously, my awareness of that guy in front wasn't very good. I could've played it better.”

For Trotz, the trouble started in with Washington trailing after the first period. The team has made a habit of starting slowly; first periods have been haunting Washington. The team had given up the first goal in seven straight games and 14 of its past 17. It was a point of frustration, something regularly brought up in the locker room.

Sunday's start might have been the Capitals' best since the All-Star break. They came out playing physical, tallying 21 hits in the first period while also possessing the puck for most of it. Washington had a 16-6 shots-on-goal advantage in the first period.

“How we played the first period, I don't think any team can hang with us,” Ovechkin said.

The Capitals were rewarded with an early power play after Andrew Desjardins was called for high-sticking. T.J. Oshie lost his stick on the man-advantage, returning to the bench. Justin Williams hopped onto the ice for him, and as he skated into the offensive zone, he fired a slap shot.

The shot bounced off goalie Corey Crawford and up, with Marcus Johansson swatting the puck in while it was still in the air. The lead was short-lived, as Patrick Kane scored 31 seconds later, capitalizing on a turnover by Williams in the defensive zone. The teams went to first intermission tied at one.

“Clearly, I didn't see him,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said of Kane. “Sneaky bugger was hanging out behind me. It looks like we're heading out of the zone with possession, and then their [defenseman] keeps it in. I don't know if he saw [Kane] — if he did, that's a [heck] of a pass — I think he just [tried to] keep it in and Kane was just sniffing around hoping for that to happen. It's my responsibility to know where he is.”

Said Trotz: “We should've been ahead in that first period, maybe by more than one goal. We could've been up a couple of goals.”

Chicago took the lead in the second period with a power-play goal by Jonathan Toews, and with Washington trying to tie the game in the third period, Rasmussen scored to put the Capitals in a two-goal hole they couldn't recover from.