Blues extend home point streak to 11 with victory against Capitals

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues extended their home point streak to 11 games with a 5-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Enterprise Center on Friday.

Pavel Buchnevich had two goals and an assist for St. Louis (20-10-5), which is 10-0-1 at home in its past 11 games, the longest home point streak since also going 10-0-1 from Dec. 12, 2019-Feb. 4, 2020.
"It was a discussion before the season started out," Blues defenseman Torey Krug said. "That was one of our goals. Playing in a full building, this is a very tough place for opposing teams. I was on the other side for a number of years. We talked about it as an opposing team. I think we've re-established that and our fans being back in the building is a very big part of that.
"So at the beginning of the year that was a goal of ours, to come in here and make it a hard place to play, and we've accomplished that so far."

Ryan O'Reilly and Robert Thomas each had two assists, and Ville Husso made 26 saves for his first win since Nov. 27 for the Blues.
Daniel Sprong scored for Washington (20-7-8). Ilya Samsonov allowed four goals on 16 shots and was pulled after two periods. Zach Fucale made seven saves in relief.
"Nobody likes losing a hockey game," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's frustrating tonight. It was kind of a game that didn't have a lot of shots, a lot of chances. The ones they got, they had some quality to them. The ones we had in the first period had quality to them, but they just didn't go. There are things we can do better defensively to tighten that up."
Sprong put Washington ahead 1-0 at 2:02 of the first period on a wrist shot from inside the right circle.
"We had some good chances in the first 10 [minutes] and then they capitalized on our mistakes," Sprong said. "We had some good looks. They just didn't go in. At the end of the day, we didn't get a good result. We've got to put this behind us and get ready for tomorrow night [at the Minnesota Wild]."
The Capitals came out strong and were outshooting the Blues 10-3 to start the game, but Husso made sure the Blues had a chance to get back into the game, including making a left toe save on the goal line of a Brett Leason chance from close range at 1:53 of the first.
"When I came to the rink, I just focused on the start and the first period," Husso said. "It was nice to get some saves right away. After that one save, I felt like I was into the game. Sometimes it's hard to come when you're a month away and you don't play for a month. Today I was lucky to make those saves and then guys scored a couple goals. It was a good hockey game for us, and a big win."
Krug tied it 1-1 at 12:10, taking a Thomas cross-ice pass and beating Samsonov from the left circle.
"I think Krug's goal really got us settled in, to be honest with you," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "Then we started to just do what we needed to do against them."

Buchnevich gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead on a one-timer from the high slot at 9:08 of the second period.
Oskar Sundqvist made it 3-1 at 17:20 when he followed up a one-timer by Justin Faulk from the right point and scored from the slot after Samsonov made the initial save with his right pad.
Ivan Barbashev beat the second-period horn when he scored on a wrist shot from the high slot with seven-tenths of a second remaining to increase the lead to 4-1 and end Samsonov's night.
"You know, the game just hadn't gone the way we wanted," Laviolette said. "At that point, we're looking to make a change and get Fucale back in the net and give him some time."

Buchnevich scored a shorthanded goal into an empty net at 16:08 of the third period for the 5-1 final.
NOTES:The Blues tied their fourth-longest home point streak. Their record is 21 (18-0-3) set in 2011-12. They are 13-3-2 at home this season. … Husso is 6-0-0 with a 1.43 goals-against average and .953 save percentage in his past seven home games. He has saved 203 of 213 shots in 418:47 of ice time dating to April 10, 2021. … The Blues held Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin to three shots on goal in 20:55. It's the eighth time this season that Ovechkin, who has 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 21 games against the Blues, was held without a point in 35 games. ... Forward Tom Wilson (27 years, 284 days) is the fifth youngest player in Capitals history to play 600 games and the third-youngest forward behind Mike Gartner (27 years, 109 days) and Ovechkin (27 years, 220 days). … Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek was scratched with a non-COVID-related illness. Vanecek was supposed to back up Samsonov, but Fucale was recalled on a goalie exemption from the taxi squad. Fucale has yet to allow a goal in two NHL games. He had a 21-save shutout in a 2-0 win at the Detroit Red Wings in his NHL debut Nov. 11. … Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko missed his first game after being one of three Blues [Scott Perunovich and Jake Walman] to be placed in NHL COVID-19 protocol Thursday. ... Buchnevich has scored 30 points in his past 24 games (11 goals, 19 assists). ... St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (four goals, five assists). ... Barbashev has scored nine points (three goals, six assists) his past six games. … Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo played 15:09 after missing three games in COVID-19 protocol. … Capitals forwards T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom each has a non-COVID-related illness and was placed on injured reserve Friday. … Washington defenseman Martin Fehervary played 19:38 after missing three games in COVID-19 protocol.