The Washington Capitals, winners of two straight, are back in action tonight as they take on the St. Louis Blues for the second consecutive game. The Caps are coming off a dominant 5-2 victory on Thursday where Charlie Lindgren was superb and TJ Oshie scored his sixth career hat trick.
Lindgren will be back in net again while new dad Beck Malenstyn and Joel Edmundson will return to the lineup.
Tonight’s game is on Monumental Sports Network 2. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call. Puck drop is a little after 8 pm.
Capitals lines
Hendrix Lapierre, Matthew Phillips, and Trevor van Riemsdyk are the healthy scratches. Alex Alexeyev is staying in.
Lineys!#CapsBlues | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/EIwB2xZ2jK
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 21, 2024
Caps weirdness
1st Period
Charlie Lindgren will rematch Jordan Binnington in net. Pacioretty-Strome-Oshie and Edmundson-Bear get the start for the Capitals.
The Capitals’ published lines are not the lines they’re starting with. Nic Dowd is skating with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson while Evgeny Kuznetsov is centering Beck Malenstyn and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
Connor McMichael draws a high-sticking penalty on Adam Gaudette at the 2:15 mark of the period.
🚨 1-0 Blues. On a two-on-two break, Colton Parayko scores shorthanded, beating Charlie Lindgren with a superb shot glove-side. The goal came on St. Louis’s first shot on net. That’s the Blues’ 10th shorty of the season, tied for most in the NHL, and it came at the 2:37 mark.
The Blues are playing with a lot of jump and generating a lot of odd-man breaks early in this game.
Nic Dowd to the box for high-sticking at Kevin Hayes at 8:00.
Shorthanded, Beck Malenstyn and Evgeny Kuznetsov both get chances but Binnington stays strong in net.
Play whistled dead due to a disappearing puck. After shaking his pants for several seconds, Capitals defenseman Ethan Bear figuratively gave birth to a hockey puck.
The Capitals were outshot 12 to 5 in the period and out-attempted 19 to 15 at five-on-five.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
Max Pacioretty, who has points in four of his last six, nearly scores 18 seconds into the period.
Capitals to the power play as Adam Gaudette goes to the box for slashing Martin Fehervary at 3:38.
🚨 2-0 Blues. Brayden Schenn with a huge one-timer from the right circle that eludes Lindgren 7:44 into the period.
Blues are playing much more competitive and heavy than two nights before.
Pavel Buchnevich trips Connor McMichael at the 16:49 mark puttin the Capitals back on the power play.
Alex Ovechkin takes a cross-crease pass but his one-timer is stopped SOMEHOW by Binngington’s right pad.
Binnington with three consecutive highlight-reel saves on Ovechkin, Max Pacioretty, and Dylan Strome on the resulting power play. Good grief. Great puck movement by the Caps.
Fehervary nails Buchnevich with a huge open-ice hit at the Capitals bench after the Blues’ forward tips the puck forward in the neutral zone. Matt Kessel then goes after Fehervary afterward.
Martin Fehervary, Connor McMichael, Robert Thomas, and Matt Kessel all get unsportsmanlike conduct minors for the resulting scrum at 19:30 of the second. The two teams will skate five-on-five. Craig Laughlin is going off on the telecast because he believes no penalties should have been called on anyone.
The Blues are outshooting the Capitals 18 to 14 and out-attempting at five-on-five, 32 to 21.
A wonderful development here:
Nicklas Backstrom joins Washington Capitals on four-game road trip
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
Some line changes to start the period. Kuznetsov is skating with Pacioretty with Oshie. Strome is skating with Ovechkin and Wilson.
Nic Dowd gets hit in the rib cage by an Alex Alexeyev point shot and appeared to be in some pain.
Lindgren stops Jake Neighbours on a semi-breakaway.
Nic Dowd to the box for interference at the 15:00 mark.
🚨 3-0 Blues. Neighbours deflects a huge Robert Thomas shot from the point past Lindgren. Chuckie had no chance on it. The goal comes at the 15:51 mark of the period.
During the PK, Tom Wilson blocks a shot from Justin Faulk off his left hand. He was smarting at the bench.
Capitals and Blues will play four-on-four to end the game. Tom Wilson and Robert Thomas are sent to the showers early, receiving 10-minute misconducts and unsportsmanlike conduct at 18:25.
Jordan Binnington gets the shutout. Blues win 3-0. The Blues outshot the Capitals 29 to 18 and out-attempted them at five-on-five, 46 to 31 “Just a flat-line game for the Capitals tonight,” says Alan May.
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