Capitals Kick The Blues, 5-2; T.J. Oshie Scores 6th Career Hat Trick, Dylan Strome Scores Team-Leading 16th Goal Of The Season


Photo: X/@Capitals

The Washington Capitals downed the St. Louis Blues, 5-2, Thursday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The victory improves the Capitals record to 22-15-6 (50 points) on the season.

T.J. Oshie opened the scoring with a power play goal in the first, Nicolas Aube-Kubel added his fifth goal of the season and T.J. Oshie scored his second power play goal of the game in the middle frame, Dylan Strome added his team-leading 16th goal of the season and T.J. Oshie added an empty net goal for the hat trick in the final frame for the win.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (8-4-3, 2.24 GAA, .929 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Jordan Binnington (14-11-2, 3.04 GAA, .906 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Blues. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

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

Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratches: Joel Edmundson (upper body), Beck Malenstyn (personal), Sonny Milano (upper body), Rasmus Sandin (upper body), Matthew Phillips, Nicklas Backstrom (hip)

1ST PERIOD

The Capitals opened the scoring with a power play goal from T.J. Oshie (5) at 10:24. Max Pacioretty (3) had the lone helper.

Hendrix Lapierre was hit with a four-minute double-minor high-sticking penalty immediately following the Capitals opening tally, but the Capitals penalty kill was up to the task, keeping the Blues off the scoreboard.

However, immediately following the expiration of the Lapierre power play, the Blues dented the twine on a blast from the point that was deflected by former Capital Nathan Walker (2) at 17:54. Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko had the helpers.

The first period concluded with the game knotted 1-1. The Blues held a slight edge in five-on-five shot attempts, 13-11, high-danger chances, 2-0 and xGF .41 to .40.

2ND PERIOD

The Capitals reclaimed the lead early in the middle frame on a sharp-angle shot by Nicolas Aube-Kubel (5) at 3:32. Hendrix Lapierre (5) and John Carlson (22) had the assists.

The Capitals extended their lead to 3-1 on T.J. Oshie’s second power play goal of the game at 10:27 of the middle frame. Dylan Strome (12) and Max Pacioretty (4) had the helpers.

The Capitals held the 3-1 lead into the second intermission. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts 9-2 in the second period.

3RD PERIOD

The Capitals extended their lead to 4-1 on a goal from Dylan Strome (16) just 34 seconds into the third period. Alex Ovechkin (20) and John Carlson (23) had the assists.

The Blues quickly answered with a goal from Justin Faulk (3) at 4:01 of the final frame. The goal was unassisted.

T.J. Oshie added an empty net goal for the the hat trick and the 5-2 final.

The two teams will now pack it up and head to St. Louis for the second game of the home-and-home set on Saturday.

  • T.J. Oshie scored his second power-play goal of the season to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Oshie, who has scored three goals in the last four games, extends his point streak to four games (3g, 1a).
  • Oshie, who was originally drafted by St. Louis in the first round (24th overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft, has recorded seven points (2g, 5a) in eight career games against his former team.
  • Max Pacioretty, who registered the primary assist on Oshie’s goal, has recorded four points (1g, 3a) in his last six games.
  • Nic Aube-Kubel scored his fifth goal of the season to put the Capitals ahead 2-1. Aube-Kubel has recorded five points (2g, 3a) in January.
  • Hendrix Lapierre recorded the primary assist on Aube-Kubel’s goal, his fifth assist of the season. It marks his first career point against St. Louis.
  • John Carlson recorded his team-leading 22nd assist on Aube-Kubel’s goal. Carlson has registered six points (2g, 4a) in his last eight games.
  • T.J. Oshie scores his second power-play goal of the game to extend Washington’s lead to 3-1. It marks Oshie’s 72nd power-play goal as a Capital, tying him with Dale Hunter for the fifth most in franchise history.
  • Dylan Strome registered the primary assist on Oshie’s second goal, his 12th assist of the season. Strome has recorded seven points (2g, 5a) in his last ten games.
  • Max Pacioretty recorded his second assist of the game on the Capitals’ third goal. With two assists tonight, Pacioretty has registered his first multi-point game as a Capital and the 160th of his career.
  • With his assist on Nic Aube-Kubel’s second period goal, John Carlson became the fifth player in Capitals franchise history to record 400 even-strength points (Alex Ovechkin: 941; Nicklas Backstrom: 610; Mike Gartner: 552; Peter Bondra: 533).
  • Dylan Strome scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season to extend Washington’s lead to 4-1. With a goal and an assist tonight, Strome has notched his sixth multi-point game of the season.
  • Alex Ovechkin’s assist on Dylan Strome’s goal marks his team-leading 15th primary assist of the season.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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