Capitals at Blues
The St. Louis Blues look to rebound from a dispiriting performance last time out and resume their quest for a Western Conference playoff spot when they host the red-hot Washington Capitals on Monday. The Blues went 6-0-1 in seven games and 8-2-2 in March before wasting a chance to gain ground with Saturday's 6-0 setback at Arizona.
“We can’t allow any carryover from this,” St. Louis coach Mike Yeo told reporters after the trouncing. “Three weeks ago, I don’t think anybody would have put us in this place, and the opportunity that we have here, that’s something we need to be excited about.” The Blues, who also have an outside shot at third place in the Central Division, sit one point behind Colorado for the second wild card in the West and trail Los Angeles by two for the first spot but have a game in hand on both teams while the Capitals clinched their third straight Metropolitan Division title with Sunday's 3-1 victory at Pittsburgh. Washington has won 10 of its last 12 games and reached 100 points (101) for the fourth consecutive season after Philipp Grubauer turned aside 36 shots in the win over the Penguins. Captain Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in points (83) and tops the league with 45 goals but has been limited to one tally over his last six games as he seeks his seventh Maurice Richard Trophy and eighth career 50-goal season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NHL Network,TVA, NBCS Washington, FS Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (47-25-7): Evgeny Kuznetsov notched an assist in Sunday’s win to push his total to a career-high 78 points and has posted at least two in six of his last eight contests. Nicklas Backstrom has notched eight assists in his last five games while John Carlson has recorded five in the same span to push his season total to 66 points - most among NHL defensemen. Since Grubauer (14-9-3, .923 save percentage) started on Sunday, Braden Holtby (32-16-4, .907 save percentage) likely will get the call against the Blues after winning three of his last four decisions.
ABOUT THE BLUES (43-29-6): St. Louis finished with a 34-33 edge in shots Saturday but could not get any past Antti Raanta after scoring 23 times over its previous seven contests and is just 1-for-11 on the power play over its last six games. Brayden Schenn registered seven of his team-leading 65 points over the last eight games while Vladimir Tarasenko, who tops the club in goals, has scored four times in his last five contests. Carter Hutton allowed four goals on 19 shots Saturday in his first appearance in four weeks while Jake Allen finished March with an 8-3-1 record after making his 12th straight start.
OVERTIME
1. Washington C Jay Beagle suffered an upper-body injury in Sunday’s contest and has been ruled out against the Blues.
2. St. Louis RW Scottie Upshall reportedly has been lost for the season with a lacerated kidney, which he suffered in Saturday’s contest.
3. The Capitals have won the last four meetings, including a 4-3 triumph on Jan. 7 thanks to Backstrom’s overtime goal.