Blues defeat Capitals to end three-game skid

WASHINGTON --David Perron extended his goal streak to seven games in the St. Louis Blues 5-2 win against Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Perron scored into an empty net with 29 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.
Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists, Brandon Saad had a goal and an assist, and Ville Husso made 19 saves for the Blues (35-18-9), who had lost three straight (0-1-2).
"Every game's important," Saad said. "Every team in our division is battling for positioning. For us, it's just controlling what we can and winning hockey games. Playoff hockey starts now."

Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist, and Vitek Vanecek made 33 saves for the Capitals (35-20-10), who are 7-2-1 in the past 10 games.
"I think overall, in all three zones, we weren't good enough," forward Nicklas Backstrom said. "It starts from the back end, and we weren't good enough there and then a lot of turnovers and a lot of odd-man rushes. So, I think that's an area that we've got to clean up too if we want to be a great team."
Evgeny Kuznetsov made it 1-0 at 8:22 of the first period on a power play to extend his point streak to 10 games. His shot from the right circle deflected off Husso's glove and was inadvertently knocked in by Blues defenseman Colton Parayko.
Saad tied it 1-1 at 11:48, splitting the Washington defense on the rush before sliding a backhand shot between Vanecek's pads.
"I don't know," Saad said about deciding to skate between Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson. "Maybe pick your battles every now and then and fortunately it worked out tonight."

Wilson put the Capitals ahead 2-1 at 13:01 when he finished off a 2-on-1 rush with Anthony Mantha, scoring on a wrist shot from the right circle.
Ryan O'Reilly tied it 2-2 at 17:15 during a power play. Saad controlled the rebound of Perron's shot from the point and passed to O'Reilly at the post for the tap-in.
"We gave up way too much in the first period," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "Too many mental mistakes, too many sloppy mistakes."
Nathan Walker, recalled Tuesday from Springfield of the American Hockey League, put St. Louis ahead 3-2 at 10:31 of the second period, tapping in a backhand pass from Schenn.
"He's been outstanding all year for us the way he comes in and just buzzes and makes an impact," O'Reilly said of Walker. "That was a huge goal, just going to the net hard and getting rewarded for it."

Schenn made it 4-2 at 17:13, spinning around in front of the crease to knock in his own rebound.
"Some of those better teams, it's hard to chase the games against teams like that," Wilson said. "But I thought we were in it and then they got a couple of quick ones and kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit."
NOTES:Kuznetsov has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) during his 10-game point streak. … Blues defenseman Torey Krug left the game in the second period after sustaining an upper-body injury. Coach Craig Berube did not have an update after the game. … Defenseman Nick Leddy, acquired by St. Louis in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, had two shots on goal in 20:50 of ice time. … Forward Marcus Johansson, acquired by Washington in a trade with the Seattle Kraken on Monday, had one shot on goal, one hit and was minus-1 in 17:56 of ice time. … Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin saw his five-game point streak (four goals, two assists) end. … With a goal and an assist, Wilson ties his NHL career-high in points (44). He scored 21 goals and 23 assists in 68 games in 2019-20. … Carlson has a goal and seven assists in his past seven games.