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 His goal and his assists on two goals by center Nicklas Backstrom
carried the Capitals to a 4-1 victory over the slumping St. Louis
Blues that kept the Capitals' slim playoff hopes alive.
The win allowed the Capitals to stay four points behind the Columbus
Blue Jackets for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference
with three games to play.
"It's always nice to score the goals in an important game," Ovechkin
said. "I'm pretty sure the guys right now understand what position
we're in. We're going to battle until the end."
A loss by Washington Tuesday night, or in any of their three
remaining games, would eliminate it from the playoffs. Columbus also
holds the tiebreaker should the two teams tie.
Ovechkin, who leads the NHL in goals, put the Capitals in front with
his 23rd power-play goal at 17:54 of the first period, taking
advantage of a minor hooking penalty on Blues' center Derek Roy.
It was the fifth time in Ovechkin's career that he has reached the
50-goal mark in a season. He became the 11th player in NHL history
to score 50 or more goals in a season five times.
"It means a lot," Ovechkin said. "That's a big number and it's going
to be there my whole life. It's history. It's nice to be with that
company and I'm sure my family is very happy and proud of me."
Ovechkin's coach, Adam Oates, was proud of the effort of his entire
team as they handed the Blues their third consecutive loss, their
longest losing streak of the season.
"I thought the defense did a great job," Oates said. "They're
obviously a very good hockey team over there and I think we
frustrated them tonight. We talked this morning about all we can do
is control our situation — try and focus on tonight, get a win and
see what happens tomorrow."
The Blues got a brief spark from their fourth line and tied the
score on a goal by center Maxim Lapierre 2:39 into the second
period. A double minor penalty on Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov
gave the Blues a great chance to break the tie, but the advantage
was quickly wiped out by a hooking penalty on St. Louis defenseman
Kevin Shattenkirk.
With the teams skating four-on-four, it was the Capitals who got the
go-ahead goal by center Mikhail Grabovski, who beat Blues goalie
Ryan Miller on the short side at 8:52 of the period.
The Capitals increased the lead to 3-1 with 1:10 left in the period
when Ovechkin fed Backstrom for his 16th goal of the year. They made
it 4-1 just 16 seconds into the final period when the two hooked up
again for a power-play goal, this time taking advantage of a penalty
on Blues' left winger Jaden Schwartz for holding the stick.
Goalie Braden Holtby made certain the lead stood up through the
third period as the Capitals won in regulation for only the second
time in their last seven games, keeping the Blues in an offensive
slump.
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The Blues welcomed their leading goal scorer, left winger Alexander
Steen, back into the lineup after a three-game absence but still
failed to score more than two goals for the sixth consecutive time
and the ninth time in their last 11 games.
At least for this game, Steen put the blame on himself for the
scoring drought.
"We had a ton of chances that we didn't convert on," Steen said. "I
had three really good looks tonight and I didn't convert on them. I
have to be a lot better and put those away. I have to take this one.
I have to score."
The loss dropped the Blues three points behind Boston, which lost
4-3 to Minnesota in a shootout, in the race for the President's
Trophy. The Blues have to be careful of what is behind them as well,
as they are now only one point ahead of Anaheim for the top spot in
the Western Conference.
Coach Ken Hitchcock believes the Blues' biggest problem in recent
games has come on special teams. They allowed the two power-play
goals on four chances against the Capitals and were 0-for-4 on their
own power play.
"What's really hurting us right now is our special teams," Hitchcock
said. "We're giving up power-play goals and we're not doing the job
on the power play. To me, that's the major concern right now. We're
losing that part of the game."
Blues center and captain David Backes suffered what Hitchcock said
was a lower-body injury in the middle of the second period and did
not return. No additional information about the injury was released.
NOTES: The Capitals decided not to play G Jaroslav Halak against his
former team, apparently because Halak "just wasn't 100 percent
comfortable," Washington coach Adam Oates said. The Blues traded
Halak, who won 24 games for them this season, to Buffalo for G Ryan
Miller on Feb. 28, and the Sabres then shipped him to the Capitals.
... After Tuesday's morning skate, Halak told reporters, "It's still
too fresh. Maybe if it was under different circumstances, like next
year. I didn't think my mind would be on the game." ... The Capitals
were playing in St. Louis for the first time since Dec. 1, 2010. ...
The Blues' last three games of the regular season will be Thursday
night at Minnesota, Friday night at Dallas and at home Sunday
against Detroit. ... Washington plays Thursday night at Carolina.
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