The streak is over! The St. Louis Blues have ended their seven-game losing skip. Now, they head back on the road looking to ride that momentum and get more wins. To start their brief road trip, the Blues visit the Nation’s Capital to battle Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. The two organizations that won their first Stanley Cup within a year of each other aim to build on their unexpected success from last season. Will the Blues start a winning streak, or will the Capitals get back into the win column?
Blues vs. Capitals Preview
The Blues and Capitals meet for the first time this season. Last season, the teams split the season series, with each team winning on the road. The Blues currently lead the all-time series 49-46-12-1. However, they do have a losing record when in Washington.
Time: 7:30 Eastern Time
TV: TNT
Blues’ Recent Game
The Blues are 4-7-2 on the season with 10 points. However, their win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday propelled them back into the win column. It was an excellent victory for the team as they battled back to win despite falling behind 2-0. Dalibor Dvorsky scored his first NHL goal to get the Blues on the board. Robert Thomas, returning from injury, scored the tying goal shortly after. Pius Suter scored the dramatic game-winning goal with just 1:23 left in the third period.
What did this win mean for the Blues? Head coach Jim Montgomery provided some insight after the game:
“We needed it. But I think we’re a process-oriented team. … Game management was excellent tonight, and belief leads to good results. For me, this was the third good hockey game in a row that we’ve played, and if we keep playing like this, we’re going to win a lot of hockey games.”
Projected Lineup (Subject to Change)
- Jake Neighbours – Robert Thomas – Pavel Buchnevich
- Dylan Holloway – Brayden Schenn – Jordan Kyrou
- Mathieu Joseph – Pius Suter – Jimmy Snuggerud
- Oskar Sundqvist – Nick Bjugstad – Nathan Walker
- Cam Fowler – Colton Parayko
- Tyler Tucker – Justin Faulk
- Philip Broberg – Logan Mailloux
- Jordan Binnington
Team Leaders
Following his winning goal on Tuesday, Suter now leads the Blues in points with eight. Neighbours, despite being injured, still leads the team with six goals. Thomas leads with six assists. Tucker leads the team in penalty minutes with 19. Lastly, Suter leads the team in another category. He leads the Blues in plus/minus with a plus-2.
Related: Milan Lucic Signs PTO With AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds
In goal, Binnington leads the Blues with three wins, a 3.08 goals against average, and a .868 save percentage.
Capitals’ Recent Game
The Capitals are 6-5-1 with 13 points. They are on a four-game losing streak, with their latest loss coming against the Buffalo Sabres. The game started well enough for the Caps as they got out to an early 2-0 2:15 into the game. However, the Sabres would rally with three goals before the end of the first period. The Capitals tied the game in the second period, but the Sabres got the win in a shootout.
Legend Alex Ovechkin is still stuck at 899 career goals.
Projected Lineup (Subject to Change)
- Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier
- Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Tom Wilson
- Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Ryan Leonard
- Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Justin Sourdif
- Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
- Jakob Chychrun – Trevor van Riemsdyk
- Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
- Charlie Lindgren
Team Leaders
Tom Wilson leads the Capitals with 13 points. The leading scorer, as of now, is not the great Ovechkin, but instead Wilson, who has six goals. Strome leads in assists with eight. To no one’s surprise, Wilson leads in penalty minutes with 27. Lastly, Strome leads the Capitals in plus/minus with a plus-6 rating.
Related: Capitals’ Logan Thompson Has Had Unique Path to NHL Stardom
Between the pipes, Logan Thompson leads the team with five wins, a 1.51 GAA, and a .935 SV%.
Blues’ Keys to the Game
The Blues would benefit from scoring the first goal of the game to avoid playing from behind. Now that the losing streak is over, they should aim to generate momentum and start a winning streak. Grabbing a lead with the first goal in the game could add additional confidence to a team that has to be feeling good coming off their win on Tuesday.
The Blues also need to take advantage of a struggling Capitals’ penalty-kill unit. The Capitals have a 75% success rate killing penalties, which is near the bottom of the league. The Blues’ power-play unit, meanwhile, ranks 10th in the league with a power-play goal in 25% of their opportunities. A power-play goal got the Blues back into the game on Tuesday. Good things happen when a team scores on the power play. Should the Blues go on the power play on Wednesday, they need to take advantage.
Capitals’ Keys to the Game
The Capitals are struggling to score goals. During three of the four games during this losing streak, they have scored one goal or fewer. That is simply not going to get the job done. Furthermore, they have recorded 25 shots or fewer in three of the four games. The Capitals are a team capable of scoring goals. Additionally, they are facing a team whose goaltenders have had slow starts to the season. While they are finding their footing again, it is to the Capitals’ advantage to get shots on goal whenever possible.
The Capitals will also look to their goaltenders to keep them in the game. Goaltending has not been a culprit in this losing streak, but sometimes a team needs a goalie to steal a game to get out of a slump. Going against a Blues team that can score goals, the Capitals will need their netminder to be on his game.
