The St. Louis Blues did not get the start to the home-and-home set they wanted on Thursday night, falling 5-2 to the Capitals in Washington, D.C. Nathan Walker scored a pair of goals, but the Blues were unable to withstand a strong performance from Washington's power play and a hat trick from former Blue TJ Oshie and they fell 5-2.
The Capitals, who have struggled on the power play this season, went 2-for-4 - both goals by Oshie - and the Blues went 0-for-5 to mark the main difference in Thursday's contest.
"We gave them good looks on their power plays and didn't generate any on ours," said Justin Faulk, who assisted on Walker's second goal. "We had plenty of chances to find ways to make this a tighter game and buckle down on the penalty kill, and we just weren't able to."
Oshie, whose hat trick was No. 7 of his NHL career, has 10 points in 26 games this season - six of which have come in his last four games. Since his trade from the Blues in 2015, Oshie has nine points in eight games against the Blues.
Nick Leddy, Colton Parayko and Nikita Alexandrov also recorded points for the Blues, Alexandrov's marking his first NHL point this season - immediately after his recall from a conditioning assignment in Springfield.
The Blues and Caps both return to St. Louis this weekend to finish their home-and-home series, meeting Saturday night as the Blues honor their franchise legends inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. The rematch marks the Blues' last home game for eight days, playing in Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle next week.
The Blues are 21-20-2 on the season heading into Saturday's matchup, while the Capitals are 22-15-6.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Colton Parayko, who helped set up Nathan Walker's first goal of the game on Thursday night. Parayko has five goals and three assists at Enterprise Center this season, including an overtime game-winning goal against the Stars last month.
CAPITALS Alex Ovechkin, who recorded an assist on Thursday night in his return from a lower-body injury. The future Hall of Famer has eight points over an active seven-game point streak, up to a team-leading 28 on the season.
BLUE NOTES
The Blues have won back-to-back home games against Washington and have earned points in their last four games against the Capitals at Enterprise Center (3-0-1)
The Blues will finish out a stretch of seven straight games against Eastern Conference opponents on Saturday vs. Washington (2-3-1 so far)
The Blues will celebrate their 2024 Hall of Fame class on Saturday vs. Washington, after their induction on Friday night
Keith Tkachuk, Mike Liut, and Pavol Demitra make up the Blues 2024 Hall of Fame Inductees
Tkachuk appeared in 543 games for the Blues, posting 427 points (208g, 219a). His 208 goals rank 6th on the Blues all-time franchise list, while his 427 points rank 12th and his 29 game-winning goals share 7th
Pavol Demitra appeared in 494 games with the Blues, posting 493 points (204g, 289a). His 204 goals and 289 assists each rank 8th on the Blues all-time franchise list, while his 493 points rank 7th and his 45 game-winning goals rank 2nd
Mike Liut appeared in 347 games with the Blues, posting a 151-133-52 record. Liut is the Blues all-time leader in games played (347), games started (339) and wins (151)
After falling at Washington 5-2 Thursday, the St. Louis Blues return home Saturday for a rematch with the Capitals.
"I don't know if it's good or bad," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "For us, we have to be better in all situations. Doesn't really matter who we play two days from now."
The Blues are 0-2-1 in the last three games heading into Saturday, while the Capitals have won three of their last four games.
"We're playing much more consistent, shift to shift, period to period and now game to game," Washington coach Spencer Carbery said.
Bannister believed his team helped the Capitals maintain control of Thursday's game by mismanaging the puck.
"I think it wasn't really what they were doing," Bannister said. "I don't think we were very predictable in getting pucks underneath, things we talked about as a group, putting pucks to areas we can get to and sustaining O-zone pressure. That's something that collectively as a group, they have to decide they want to do if we want to have success moving forward."
St. Louis' three-game winless streak is the longest since Bannister replaced Craig Berube as coach. The Blues scored just seven goals in that span, prompting Bannister to shuffle his forward line combinations and defensive pairings.
With winger Kasperi Kapanen landing on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, the Blues recalled forward Adam Gaudette from AHL affiliate Springfield and placed him on the third line. Forward Nikita Alexandrov returned from a conditioning stint in the AHL and rejoined the fourth line.
But the changes did not have the desired effect. The Blues mustered just 11 shots at even strength.
"Sometimes, I think we're trying to do too much with the puck and we haven't been scoring a lot of goals," said Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, who assisted one of his team's two goals. "Some guys are probably feeling it a little more and forcing it. It's a tough give and take. When you're not scoring, you try a little harder and you grip your stick. It's a cliche, everyone says it, but you're thinking about it a lot more and playing your game a little bit differently, a little bit slower."
The Capitals got Alex Ovechkin back Thursday after he missed three games with a lower-body injury. He earned an assist in his return, but former Blues forward T.J. Oshie starred for Washington with his sixth career hat trick.
Defenseman Joel Edmundson, another former Blue, is day-to-day for the Capitals with an upper-body injury. Trevor van Riemsdyk replaced him on Thursday. Forward Beck Malenstyn missed the game for personal reasons.
Oshie scored twice on the power play, which ranked 30th in the NHL coming into the game. Washington scored another goal just as a man advantage expired.
"The power play was a difference-maker tonight," Carbery said. "The power play arguably scores three tonight because they get that early one at the beginning of the third, just after it expired. Huge goals, huge moments. I just loved the process.
"And then the penalty kill, when you go back in that game, there were some teetering moments where, they score a power-play goal and now all of a sudden the game's flipped. There were probably three penalty kills that I remember (thinking) 'It's a huge kill.'"
