Capitals take down St. Louis thanks to some former Blues

The Washington Capitals are in an important stretch and have so far passed the early tests after Rangers weekend. After a win over the Ducks, the Caps protected the crib with a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues and it was some former Blues players that made an impact in this game.

You had a former Blues goalie Charlie Lindgren who while he did let a few get past him still made some timely saves. And there was a revenge game on the other side too as Nathan Walker scored both Blues goals. Walker was drafted by the Caps in 2014 and was a "black ace" during their 2018 Cup run.

Lindgren spent one season in St. Louis and he won all five of his starts. It was a breif sample size but it turned the heads of Capitals scouts. Walker's goals came at 17:54 in the first and 4:01 in the third. So to break it down, Lindgren stopped seven of eight in the first while shots were even at eight among both teams.

In the second the Caps led in shots 10-7 and Lindgren stopped everything. The third saw the Caps lead in shots 8-5 for a total of 26-20 overall. Lindgren stops four of five and if you're only facing five shots in the final period from a team that's trailing that means you have a good defense in front of you.

That's exaclty what Lindgren had while he finished with 18 saves. The Caps had 16 blocked shots and took away the puck seven times. They also outhit the Blues 9-7 and their peanlty kill stopped all five St. Louis power plays. Every Blues fans favorite player Tom Wilson got it into it. And all that I've just mentioned wasn't even the biggest storyline of the game.

T.J. Oshie is up there in age and he has gone thorugh a lot injury wise, so much so some think he should retire (I'm not one of them). He got drafted in 2005 by the Blues 24th overall in the first round. He got traded to the Capitals 10 years later and when that trade happened I didn't know when they were going to win the Cup, but I knew they were going to eventually.

At 10:24 in the first Max Pacioretty set up Oshie for his first of the night with a snap shot top shelf right corner on the power play. Walker tied it late in the first. Nicolas Aube Kubel got credited with a goal at 3:32 in the luckiest way possible as his shot went right off a Blues' players leg and into the net. Hendrix Lapierre and John Carlson had the assists there.

Oshie got his second power play goal of the night at 10:27 in the second period. Pacioretty and Dylan Strome set him up there and it was a shot right up the middle. Strome added a goal 34 seconds into the third as he rebounded a shot from Alex Ovechkin, who returned to the lineup after missing three games due to a lower body injury. Carlson had the secondary.

Oshie added the empty net goal at 19:40 the McNugget Minute. It was set up by Martin Fehervary and with it being Country Music Night at the game, fans threw their cowboy hats onto the ice.

These two games meet again this time on Saturday night in the Lou.