Capitals at Blues
The St. Louis Blues wrap up their five-game homestand Saturday as they welcome the Washington Capitals to Scottrade Center. St. Louis improved to 3-1-0 on the stretch of home contests with a 4-3 triumph over Nashville on Thursday, when Paul Stastny snapped a tie with 5:54 remaining in the third period. It was the second meeting between the teams in six days as the Predators skated to a 2-1 victory last Saturday, handing the Blues their lone loss on the homestand - and only setback in their last 10 overall games.
Washington had its three-game winning streak snapped Friday as it suffered a 1-0 loss to New Jersey at home. The Capitals continued their solid defensive play despite the defeat as they have allowed fewer than four goals in each of their last four contests. Washington has won four of its last five meetings with St. Louis, including a pair of 4-1 triumphs last season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Plus DC (Washington), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (7-6-3): Alex Ovechkin is tied with Marcus Johansson for the team lead with eight goals but has scored in only two of his last 12 games. The captain has registered three two-goal performances this season while Johansson has tallied five times in his last seven contests. Joel Ward, who is third on the club with seven goals, has gone three games without a tally after posting a three-game goal-scoring streak.
ABOUT THE BLUES (11-4-1): The "STL Line" made up of Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera has been on fire, registering 38 points over St. Louis' last 10 games. Schwartz (goal, seven assists) is riding a five-game point streak, Lehtera (four, six) has a point in six straight contests and Tarasenko (six, six) enters Saturday with a seven-game run during which he has posted five two-point efforts. Tarasenko is tied for fifth in the league with 10 goals and is one of six players to reach double digits in tallies.
OVERTIME
1. Blues RW T.J. Oshie made a successful return from a seven-game absence due to a concussion on Thursday, scoring his first goal of the season against the Predators.
2. Washington G Justin Peters is expected to start Saturday after Braden Holtby suffered the hard-luck loss versus New Jersey.
3. Brian Elliott is likely to start in goal for St. Louis despite his 3.50 goals-against average versus Washington - his worst mark against any team.