St. Louis Blues Destroy Washington Capitals 3-0

Last night, the Washington Capitals fell 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues in the first game of a road trip. Jimmy Snuggerud, Jordan Kyrou, and Otto Stenberg scored for St. Louis. It was the first time that the Capitals lost in regulation in the last 5 games, and the home team is now on a two-game winning streak. Washington Center Pierre-Luc Dubois received a penalty for intent to injure after tackling Robert Thomas in the third period.

Both teams are in the hunt for a playoff spot, with the Capitals sitting at sixth in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference and the Blues in sixth in the Central Division of the Western Conference. St. Louis is closer in points to that spot than the Washington team.

Both Teams Scoreless in the First Period

The game was scoreless in the first period. The Capitals were down a player in Defenseman Ethen Frank, who sustained a lower-body injury on March 22. Despite getting a power play less than three minutes into the period, the Capitals could only manage two good shots on goal, one from Alex Ovechkin, which was blocked by the Blues’ goalkeeper, Joel Hofer. Young Defenseman Cole Hutson also had a strong shot on goal as the power play expired.

The Capitals got another power play right at the end of the first period, when Jake Neighbors had a slashing penalty on Tom Wilson. Washington outshot the Blues 8-4 in the first period, and had 1:12 left in the power play going into the second period.

Snuggerud Gives the Blues a Lead In the Second Period

Wilson had a shot on goal where the puck got caught on Hofer’s mask and hit his face during the power play, but he recovered well. Snuggerud managed to score 2:39 into the period, getting past Washington Goalie Logan Thompson, who’s been hard to get by this season. Logan Mailloux, a rookie defenseman, and Philip Broberg were credited with the assist.

Ryan Leonard from the Capitals fought with Stenberg a few minutes later, and the Blues got their first power play briefly when Connor McMicheal got a penalty for slashing. Washington managed to kill the penalty. Shots were tied 13-13 after the second period, with the Blues up 1-0.

Blues Pull Away In Third Period

The Blues began to dominate early on in the third period, with Thompson making impressive saves, as he’s been doing all season. Then, Thomas interfered with Dubois, and Dubois pulled him down. Dubois got a game penalty, though he reportedly won’t receive anything more than that. Thomas was helped off the ice by trainers and received a 2-minute penalty for interference, though he passed concussion protocols and should recover quickly.

The home team took a 45-second major penalty for having too many players on the ice, and the Capitals were able to kill the 5-minute penalty from Dubois without Thompson letting in any more goals.

That changed when Stenberg scored almost 15 minutes in, assisted by DaliBor Dborsky and Jonatan Berggren. Desperate now, the visiting team pulled Thompson from the game for an extra attacker, and Kyrou scored into the empty net at 19:19 into the third period. The game ended 3-0 to the Blues. Hofer stopped 21 shots, while Thompson stopped 24.

Post-Game Reactions

Capitals Defenseman Matt Roy spoke after the game. “It was tough for us to get things going offensively tonight. Credit to them, they played hard, and their goalie made some good plays, and that stopped our momentum a bit. We’ve just got to move past it.”

Coach Jim Montgomery of the Blues was pleased with his team’s performance. “I didn’t think by any means we were dynamic, but we were really smart and were always above pucks. I don’t think we gave up many odd-man rushes, if at all. I thought the desperation in our game defensively, we took away time and space really well.”

The Blues will play another home game against the San Jose Sharks on March 26, while the Capitals will travel to the Utah Mammoth on March 26.