Hawks drop second straight, 4-1 to Caps.

WASHINGTON—Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots, Alex Ovechkin scored a goal in his return to the Washington lineup and the Capitals beat the punchless Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night.John Carlson, T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen also scored the Capitals, who welcomed back Ovechkin following a one-game disciplinary absence.Coming off a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia one night earlier, the Blackhawks trailed by three goals in this one before Viktor Svedberg got his first goal of the season at 3:13 of the third period. That ended a scoreless drought of 107 minutes, 46 seconds for the defending Stanley Cup champions.Ovechkin sealed the victory at 14:18, scoring from the left side of the net after a back-and-forth with teammate Evgeny Kuznetsov.Ovechkin was benched Tuesday night in Washington’s 5-0 loss to San Jose after missing practice that morning. He said he overslept after accidentally setting his alarm for 8:30 p.m. instead of 8:30 a.m.The Hawks host Columbus and Brandon Saad Saturday night at the United Center.