Nov. 5 vs. St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: MNMT, TNT, TruTV, HBO MAX
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
St. Louis Blues (4-7-2)
Washington Capitals (6-5-1)
The Caps make a third straight one-game stop at home to host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. Wednesday’s game with the Blues is also the front end of a set of back-to-back games; the Caps are off to Pittsburgh for a Thursday night date with the Penguins immediately after hosting the Blues. Thursday’s game in Pittsburgh also kicks off Washington’s first extended road trip of the season, a four-game, eight-day excursion.
As they move into the meat of their November schedule, the Caps are looking to halt a four-game slide (0-3-1), and they’re also seeking solutions for their ongoing power play woes. While the Caps are on the verge of getting defenseman Rasmus Sandin back in their lineup after what has so far been a five-game absence because of an upper body injury, they’re also going into Wednesday’s game with the reality of being without center P-L Dubois for an extended period of time.
Dubois was injured late in the first period of Washington’s Oct. 31 game with the New York Islanders, and while Caps coach Spencer Carbery says he is not expecting the injury to be season ending, the team is preparing itself for the reality of being without Dubois and dealing with the ripple effect upon the lineup.
“Obviously, he played some really hard minutes,” says Caps center Dylan Strome. “I feel like last year, the offensive output that he had was a bonus on how good he was defensively. He had – I think – 20 goals and 66 points, or 67 points. He obviously scored enough for us that on top of how good he was defensively, he just added to our team's overall balance.
“Even if we're starting in the [defensive] zone, those guys are all really talented players and they scored a lot of goals, and they were definitely plus players. When you have that combo, it's always good. We're going to have to find a way to have guys step up and – especially in the defensive zone – win some big face-offs and play those hard minutes that he played.”
In his first season with the Caps in 2024-25, Dubois and his linemates – typically Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael – were usually tasked with neutralizing one of the opposition’s top two lines last season, a job they embraced and performed with aplomb. But the trio also produced at a high rate offensively, giving the Caps a strong one-two punch of Strome and Dubois on its top two forward lines. It also took some pressure off Nic Dowd’s line, which had been handling those shutdown responsibilities prior to Dubois’ arrival in the District.
“Well, I think our line is still going to have the same job, and maybe more so now, because we don't have the ability to split time with Dubie,” says Dowd. “I think what made Dubie so important also is that not only could he play against the [Connor] McDavids and the [Nathan] MacKinnons and the [Sidney] Crosbys, and the old veterans of the world, but he was also a 60-70 point guy, right?
“Like, the Nic Dowds of the world, yeah, I can play great defense, but you know I'm not going to be the 60-70 point guy that can also do what Dubie does. And I'm okay with that, but there's just a difference there. There are not a lot of players that you can rely on, on both sides of the sheet indefinitely. And I think when Dubie is playing his style of hockey, he is one of the best at it.”
The Washington power play has clicked on just 15 percent of its chances through the team’s first dozen games, ranking 27th in the League through Monday’s NHL activity. A dozen games into last season, the Caps’ power play was even worse; it was dead last in the League at 9.3 percent through a dozen games. But last year’s model was a plus-13 (37-24) in 5-on-5 scoring through a dozen games, translating into a 9-3-0 record.
Carbery and his staff have been working with the power play group, and they’ve been working on their individual and collective extra-man performances on and off the ice. Even when it was productive – it clicked in five straight games earlier this season (6-for-19, 31.6 percent) – it didn’t look great as far as the eye test is concerned.
“We’ve got to do a better job as a staff, and we need the power play players that are out there to do a better job of making sure that those minutes we are on the power play are productive, and we’re generating something,” says Carbery. “Again, it’s not about scoring, but we have to be able to generate something in those opportunities, and not just constantly go back behind our net, which you are witnessing far too often with our power plays.”
The Blues come to town on a high; they ended a seven-game slide at home on Monday night with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. St. Louis spotted the Oilers a 2-0 lead before bouncing back with a pair of late second-period goals to draw even and a Pius Suter game-winner in the penultimate minute of the third period.
Robert Thomas rejoined the St. Louis lineup after missing four games with an injury, and he made a big impact with a goal and an assist. Thomas led the Blues with four shots on net and he also logged 19:56 in ice time in his return, tops among all St. Louis forwards.
St. Louis opened the season by winning three of its first five games, but each of its two losses during that span was by a margin of five goals, and on home ice. The tailspin kicked in after a 3-1 home ice win over the Stars on Oct. 18. Over the next 15 days, the Blues went 0-5-2 while being outscored by a combined 32-19, and they yielded five or more goals against in four straight games (Oct. 23-28).
Yielding an average of four goals against per game, the Blues are tied with San Jose for last in the circuit. St. Louis leads the NHL with 35 goals against at 5-on-5, an average of 2.69 per game.
