Caps Open Three-Game Trip Tuesday in St. Louis

March 24 vs. St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center

Time: 8:00 p.m.

TV: MNMT

Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network

Washington Capitals (35-27-9)

St. Louis Blues (28-30-11)

The Caps embark upon their final multi-game highway journey of the 2025-26 season and play the final three video games they need to play outdoors the Eastern Time Zone this week in a three-game journey that begins on Tuesday evening in St. Louis towards the Blues.

As they head out on the highway this week, the Caps carry with them a five-game level streak (3-0-2). Washington concluded a four-game homestand on Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 extra time loss to the NHL’s high staff, the Colorado Avalanche. The Caps carried a 1-0 lead into the third interval of that contest towards the Avs, so Washington dips to 26-1-2 in video games in which it leads heading into the sport’s ultimate 20 minutes.

“It’s hard to say you let a game slip like that,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “But we’re main the sport going into the third interval, 1-0. So, in that sense [yes]. But whenever you have a look at the underlying numbers, they have us out-chanced – not a major [amount]however somewhat bit – and people video games can go both means. You’re defending a lead and also you give one again, so it is 1-1.

“But general, I believed we performed a reasonably good hockey sport. We made a number of errors, they made another play in extra time; we could not get [players] off [the ice]“We had that puck.”

Caps captain Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play purpose in the again half of the third interval in Sunday’s sport towards the Avalanche, and that purpose tied the sport at 2-2, forcing extra time and enabling the Caps to scrape a degree from the extra time loss.

Ovechkin’s purpose was his first power-play purpose in entrance of the house people this season, and it is also his first power-play purpose that got here on his patented one-timer from his left circle workplace on the person benefit. Most notably, it was the 923rd purpose of Ovechkin’s profession, and when mixed together with his 77 lamplighters in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it offers him 1,000 for his profession.

And 19-year-old Cole Hutson – the one one in every of Ovechkin’s Washington teammates over time who was born after the Caps captain began his personal NHL profession in 2005 – picked up his first profession help on the purpose.

“It’s just another accolade for him in his incredible career,” says Carbery. “And to get a thousand targets and to do it on residence ice and do it in the best way [he did]I like the best way issues are performed. I believed that the Islanders and the way they scored [his record-breaking 895th goal] there and the celebration of that iconic second.

“And this is obviously not on that stage, but on the power play, his office, huge goal to tie that game late in the third period, it’s a big goal. So, it was a big moment.”

When the Caps got here out of the Olympic break on Feb. 25, they have been 4 factors shy of a playoff berth. Nearly a month later, they discovered themselves six factors shy of attaining their purpose; Although the Caps have pulled factors in 12 of their final 17 video games general (10-5-2), they’ve break up a dozen video games for the reason that Olympic break (6-4-2) whereas most of the groups they’re competing with for playoff positioning have been successful at a extra constant clip.

In their most up-to-date highway outing on March 12 in Buffalo, the Caps got here from behind to eke out a 2-1 victory over the Sabres, the lone loss suffered by Buffalo throughout a span of 14 video games (13-1-0).

Caps goaltender Logan Thompson has carried a shutout into the third interval of every of his final three begins, and he has performed so a dozen instances in his 49 begins this season. Since coming off injured reserve to begin the Caps’ ultimate sport forward of the Olympic break – on Feb. 5 vs. Nashville – solely Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (12) has made extra begins than Thompson (11), who’s 6-3-2 throughout that span with a 2.09 GAA and a .924 save pct.

Among all goalies with at the very least 35 appearances throughout the complete season, Thompson’s .914 save pct. ranks third in the NHL, as he does his 2.38 GAA.

Thompson has given the Caps an opportunity to win just about each sport he has began this season. Since he got here off injured reserve for that Feb. 5 sport towards Nashville, the Caps have yielded a median of two.46 targets towards per sport, rating seventh in the League throughout that span. But Washington has averaged solely 2.69 targets per sport over that 11-game span, rating twenty third in the circuit in that division.

Goals are at all times tough to come back by at the moment of yr.

“Anytime you get closer to the end of the regular season, obviously, it’s a long year,” says Caps ahead Justin Sourdif, who scored the Caps’ first purpose in Sunday’s sport. “Quite a lot of it was a condensed schedule with the Olympics, and guys are drained, and we’re battling, and it form of will get nearer to playoff hockey.

“It’s actually tight video games, tight checking. It’s form of like a chess match, shifting forwards and backwards, making an attempt to regulate play. And we simply need to learn to win these 2-1 hockey video games and defend properly. [Thompson] is at all times dancing us out, and we would wish to put a pair extra in the online for him, and we’re simply going to look to try this in St Louis.”

The Blues are two factors farther from the playoff chase in the Western Conference than the Caps are in their quest to land one of many eight Eastern Conference playoff berths; the Blues are eight factors south of the playoff cutline whereas the Caps are half a dozen factors shy.

St. Louis went from its season opener final Oct. 9 all the best way to March 1 with out stringing collectively greater than two victories in succession at any level. But the Blues gained 4 straight video games in the beginning of this month, and St. Louis enters Tuesday’s sport with a formidable 7-1-2 file in its final 10 video games. One quarter of the Blues’ win whole for the complete season has been achieved for the reason that starting of the month.

Most just lately, the Blues completed a 1-1-1 highway journey by way of Western Canada with a 3-1 victory over the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday evening. For St. Louis, Tuesday’s sport towards the Capitals begins a three-game homestand. San Jose visits on Thursday adopted by Toronto on Saturday, after which the Blues take off on a four-game highway journey to California and Colorado.