The Washington Capitals are finally back in action tonight. They’ll kick off a midwest weekend road trip with stops at the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild. First up, it’s the Blues.
The Caps had a quiet practice and made a few moves. First they reassigned goaltender Hunter Shepard to the taxi squad. Then they moved Zach Fucale to the taxi squad while Shepard was sent back to Hershey.
Dmitry Orlov was back on the ice after he missed Wednesday’s practice with an upper body injury. T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom were also on the ice after missing time due to a non COVID illness. Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and John Carlson each took maintenance days as did Carl Hagelin.
Coach Peter Laviolette said Orlov should be available but wasn’t sure about Oshie or Backstrom who practiced for the first time this week. He wasn’t sure if they were traveling on the road trip either.
The Blues will be without Vladimir Tarasenko, Scott Perunovich, and Jake Walman due to COVID protocols. They’re coming off a 5-3 loss to the red hot Pittsburgh Penguins. They defeated the Wild on New Years Day 6-4 in the Winter Classic in Minnesota.
Tonight is the first meeting between the Caps and Blues since Oct. 2, 2019 which was opening night just months before all hell broke loose. It ended in a 3-2 overtime win for the Caps thanks to Jakub Vrana. That game took place at he Enterprise Center when the Blues raised their Stanley Cup banner.
The Caps have won four of their last five games on the road against the Blues with a 4-1-0 record. Alex Ovechkin‘s 1.55 points per game against St. Louis in his career (31 points) is the second highest rate he has against a team and he has recorded goals in five straight games against the Blues with five goals.
Date: Jan. 7, 2022
Time: 8 p.m. eastern
Where: Enterprise Center
What Channel Is The Capitals Game On: NBC Sports Washington and NHL Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7
Betting Odds: The betting odds on WynnBET have the Capitals as +1.5 underdogs on the road against the Blues. The moneyline is set as both negatives however as the Caps are at -105 while the Blues are at +115. May the odds be in your favor. The over/under for tonight’s game is 6.5.
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