On Friday, the Blackhawks were welcomed to the White House by President Obama, who honored them for their 2009-10 Stanley Cup championship.
Today, they have more business in Washington -- taking care, we hope, of the Capitals in the only regular-season meeting between the two teams this season. In fact, they last met one day short of one year ago, on March 14, 2010 at the United Center. On that day, Caps star Alex Ovechkin boarded the Hawks' Brian Campbell, injuring Campbell. Ovechkin was ejected and suspended for two games as a result, and Campbell didn't return until the playoffs.
The Caps won 14 in a row earlier this year to get to the top of the Eastern Conference standings, and have now won seven straight. The Blackhawks had a nine-game winning streak snapped this week and have come off two tough losses in Florida, to the Panthers and Lightning.
It's a key game for the Blackhawks, who are one point out of fourth place in the West and seven points off the Central Division lead behind the Red Wings.
The game is on national TV on NBC at 11:30 a.m. CDT -- Daylight Saving Time begins today, if you haven't already turned your clocks forward, make sure you do it so you don't miss this game.