Sammy Blais' first 2-goal game sends Blues past Caps

[March 18, 2023]    Sammy Blais enjoyed his first career two-goal game to lead the visiting St. Louis Blues past the Washington Capitals 5-2 Friday night.
 
 Brayden Schenn had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who have won three of their past five games. Jordan Kyrou and Kasperi Kapanen scored, and Brandon Saad earned two assists.

Mar 17, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer (30) celebrates with Blues left wing Brandon Saad (20) after a goal by Blues left wing Sammy Blais (not pictured) against the Washington Capitals during the first period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Hofer, who came up from Springfield of the AHL to replace the suspended Jordan Binnnington, made 32 saves for St. Louis in his first appearance of the season and his third in the NHL.

Martin Fehervary and Nicklas Backstrom scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 17 shots for the Capitals, who have won just two of their last six games (2-3-1).

Blais scored 1:54 into the game put the Blues ahead 1-0. Schenn passed to Saad breaking in from the left wing, and then Saad hit Blais with a cross-crease pass to set up the tally.

Kyrou pushed the Blues' lead to 2-0 by converting a breakaway 4:51 into the second period. Colton Parayko triggered the play by rimming the puck out of the Blues' zone and up the right boards.

Jakub Vrana claimed the puck in the neutral zone, spun and hit Kyrou flying up the middle up the ice alone. Kyrou has five goals and four assists in his past six games.

The Blues scored again in transition to extend their lead to 3-0 at the 9:25 mark of the middle period. Pavel Buchnevich spun in the neutral zone to feed Kapanen for a slap shot moving in from the right wing.

Krug set up Blais in the slot for his second goal as the Blues increased the margin to 4-0 at 14:36 of the second period.

Fehervary put the Capitals on the board 5:47 into the third period. He moved in from the right point to convert a cross-ice pass from Alexander Alexeyev.

Backstrom scored a power-play goal from the right faceoff dot with 2:46 to go as the Capitals played six-on-four with Kuemper pulled. But Schenn iced the game with an empty-net goal with 1:39 left.

--Field Level Media

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.