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The Washington Capitals will begin another lengthy road swing, starting with a rematch with the St. Louis Blues. The Capitals defeated the Blues, 5-2, back at Capital One Arena and will look to sweep the season set and extend their win streak to three games on Saturday.
Here are the projected lines.
Max Pacioretty – Dylan Strome – T.J. Oshie
Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Hendrix Lapierre – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Alex Alexeyev – Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk – Ethan Bear
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Matthew Phillips, Beck Malenstyn (personal), Joel Edmundson (upper), Sonny Milano (upper), Rasmus Sandin (upper), Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
The Caps won their second straight multi-goal and sixth of the season. Playing with a comfortable margin has not been what this Capitals team has been accustomed to. The remaining 16 wins have all been decided by one goal.
“We’re playing much more consistent shift to shift, period to period and now game to game,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said following Thursday’s victory. “That’s important because we’re about to go out on the road and play some real good western teams. And we’ve got to keep this momentum. As challenging of a stretch as it is, it’s going to be a grind to the finish.”
T.J. Oshie notched his sixth career hat-trick against the Blues and continues to ride the hot hand with a four-game point streak. It was even sweater that he did so against his former team. He and his line with Dylan Strome and Max Pacioretty continue to produce at a high level. Strome and Pacioretty each had points in Thursday’s win.
“Although we’re obviously different players [Pacioretty] and I think the game very, very similar as far as reading where the puck is going to go, or where maybe it should go or where the guy needs support. And Stromer is just a smart player in general. He’s really good at finding space in the middle and he’s good at seeing plays develop,” Oshie said. “It’s just something that’s clicked and we’re working too. It’s obviously fun to play with the puck, but me and [Pacioretty] are the first guys that will chip the puck in deep to each other and go forecheck.”
The 37-year-old winger returned home to Minnesota, early in the month, to get treatments for an upper-body injury. Oshie said after the game that he had gone to see his chiropractor.
“I know, sort of reflecting the beginning of the year with him not scoring and the point production not there, but it never changed what he brought from a competitive standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, from a bench demeanor standpoint,” Carbery said. “So it’s just him coming back into the lineup, he’s done all of that stuff, his play has been outstanding, and then for him to get rewarded offensively [was] great.”
Alex Ovechkin returned from his three-game absence and notched an assist on Strome’s goal, which extended his point streak to seven games. The Capitals captain had been dealing with a lower-body injury and this was the second game he played in since the ailment was announced. He was a game-time decision on Thursday.
“I feel pretty good. I would say like the first couple of touches felt kind of weird,” Ovechkin said. “I kind of get that dust off my shoulders and you know feel the puck, feel the game, feel the rhythm.”
The Capitals penalty kill continues to thrive after going 5-for-5 against the Blues and is 15-for-15 over the last four games. Washington was without one of their top penalty killers in Beck Malenstyn, who missed Thursday’s game due to personal reasons.
“I didn’t feel like we gave up much from a chance generating standpoint on their power play. They had some possession, they had some moments, but I felt like the structure was so good from our point,” Carbery said. “It was a one timer from the flank, or a shot from up top and then maybe a little bit of a scramble, but there was nothing really bang-bang, seam [pass] that they were able to get to.”
Scouting St. Louis
The Blues (21-20-2) have now lost two straight games. However, Carbery spoke very highly of St. Louis even though it is at the bottom of its division. The Blues are a team that likes to generate a lot of chances up the rush and in transition, but struggled to do so against Washington.
The team’s big guns, such as Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn, were held off the scoresheet in Thursday’s loss.
After going 0-for-5 on the man-advantage against the Capitals, the Blues power play sits 30th in the NHL operating at 13.3%.
Player To Watch
Former Capitals winger Nathan Walker scored the only two goals for the Blues.
Puck drop is slated for 8 p.m. at Enterprise Center. The game can be streamed on Monumental Sports Network.
By Jacob Cheris
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