Bluesday Night – The Caps kick off a three-game road trip tonight in St. Louis against the Blues. Washington carries a five-game point streak (3-0-2) into this trip in which it will play its last three games outside the Eastern Time Zone this season.
For the first time in a few games, the Caps will have a lineup change this evening. Right wing Ethen Frank was injured when he was cross-checked from behind into the Colorado net in Sunday afternoon’s game against the Avalanche in the District. Frank accompanied the Caps on the road trip, but he will not be in the lineup tonight.
Ivan Miroshnichenko will step in for Frank tonight in St. Louis, getting his first taste of NHL action in just over two months, since the Caps played the Avalanche in Denver on Jan. 19.
“Miro will come into the lineup; Frankie is day-to-day,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery.
Tonight’s game finishes the season series with St. Louis, the Caps drubbed the Blues 6-1 in Washington on Nov. 5, the night that Caps captain Alex Ovechkin netted career goal No. 900.
St. Louis has straightened up since the Olympic break, going 8-2-2 for the fourth best record in the NHL since teams returned to play on Feb. 25.
“It’s another team that’s sort of in a similar spot to us,” says Carbery of the Blues. “They’re on the outside looking in right now, but they’re playing well of late. They’re scratching and clawing for every point, every goal and trying to stay in this fight.
“And so, it’s going to be a very similar situation to what we’ve seen i.e. New Jersey, i.e. the Ottawa game, of two desperate teams. And they’ve been playing well of late. They’re defending at a high level from what we’re looking at and what we’re reading, so it’s going to be a good test.”
First Time Around – Caps rookie Justin Sourdif turns 24 today on this 24th day of March, 2026. It’s been almost nine months now since the Caps added Sourdif in a deal with the Florida Panthers ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft, and the B.C. native took a moment this morning to reflect upon his life since the deal that brought him to D.C.
“It was super exciting,” he says. “I got to learn a lot this year from some great players. I have had great teammates and from day one when I got to Washington – I guess in September – everybody was just super welcoming in the entire organization. They made it really easy on me, and I’ve had a blast this year. I couldn’t have asked for a better rookie season in the National Hockey League with this organization. I’ve just had lots of fun and learned a lot, and I’m just excited to continue.”
Sourdif recorded a hat trick on Jan. 5 against Anaheim, adding a pair of assists to tie the franchise’s single-game record for points by a rookie (Greg Theberge had five points in a 10-4 victory over Philadelphia on Nov. 21, 1981).
Sourdif also became the ninth Washington rookie to record a hat trick in the NHL, and the first since Alex Ovechkin also turned the trick against the Ducks, in Anaheim on Jan. 13, 2006.
In a Jan. 31 victory over Carolina at Capital One Arena, Sourdif became the first Caps rookie to score an overtime game-winner in over a decade, since Evgeny Kuznetsov on March 26, 2015 against New Jersey.
Two days ago in Washington against the Colorado Avalanche, Sourdif scored the game’s first goal for the second time this season, finishing a Connor McMichael lob feed to put the Caps up 1-0 in the first, a lead they nursed into the third period.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Sourdif’s Sunday goal was his ability to quickly flatten and shoot a lofted and wobbling puck on what was clearly a difficult sheet of ice on a warm afternoon in the District.
“It was an unbelievable play by Mikey,” recounts Sourdif. “He placed it perfectly in a way where it didn't stop up on me, where I had to reach back and grab it, and it wasn't too far ahead. And he just put it in a great spot where I knew it was going to be bouncing, but it was perfectly positioned – I guess – for me to kind of skate onto it, and I kind of timed it.
“I saw it bouncing, and I knew it was going to start to slow up a little bit, and then I was able to position myself to grab it there and get a shot off. But yeah, just a really, really smart heads up play by Mikey. And I think he kind of knew where I was going, and I knew where he was going with it, and then we were able to connect on that.”
Along with Ryan Leonard’s 15-goal season to this point of the campaign, Sourdif’s total of 14 goals in his rookie season gives Washington its first pair of rookies with double-digit goal totals since Peter Bondra (12) and Dmitri Khristich (13). Sourdif’s next goal will give Washington its first pair of rookies with 15 or more goals since 1981-82. The Leonard-Sourdif duo is already the first rookie tandem to pile up as many as 30 points in a season since ’81-82.
In The Nets – Logan Thompson gets the net for Washington tonight, his 12th starting assignment in the Caps’ last 14 games and his 50th of the season, adding to his single-season career high total. Only Utah’s Karel Vejmelka (54) and Nashville’s Juuse Saros (52) have registered more starts than Thompson this season.
Over the course of the Caps’ just-completed four-game homestand, Thompson was 2-0-2 with a 1.71 GAA and a .944 save pct. He carried a shutout into the third period of each of his last three starts, and has done so a dozen times on the season to date (11-0-1).
Since coming off IR and starting the Caps’ Feb. 5 game against Nashville, Thompson is 6-3-2 in his last 11 starts with a 1.71 GAA and a .924 save pct. He leads all NHL goaltenders in GAA and save pct. across that span, among goalies with 10 or more starts.
Lifetime against the Blues, Thompson is 6-0-1 in seven appearances – all starts – with a 2.26 GAA and a .913 save pct.
For the Blues, we are expecting to see Joel Hofer in net tonight. The Caps have treated Jordan Binnington rudely over the years; they scored eight goals on 27 shots against him in their most recent visit here on Nov. 9, 2024, and they chased him to the bench after he surrendered four goals on 15 shots in just under 30 minutes of work back in November of this season, in Washington.
Hofer is a big part of St. Louis’ success since the Olympic break; he is 5-0-2 in his last seven starts with an NHL-best 1.53 GAA and an NHL best .955 save pct. across that span. Hofer’s younger brother Ryan was the Caps’ sixth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and the center has split this season between AHL Hershey and ECHL South Carolina.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Hofer is 2-0-0 in three appearances – two starts – with a 2.39 GAA and a .913 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and the Blues might look on Tuesday night St. Louis:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 72-Beauvillier
21-Protas, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
24-McMichael, 34-Sourdif, 9-Leonard
22-Duhaime, 29-Lapierre, 63-Miroshnichenko
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 38-Sandin
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
44-Hutson, 3-Roy
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
27-Liljegren
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
53-Frank (lower body)
64-Kampf (personal)
ST. LOUIS
Forwards
81-Holloway, 18-Thomas, 26-Snuggerud
63-Neighbours, 89-Buchnevich, 25-Kyrou
92-Drouin, 54-Dvorsky, 28-Stenberg
13-Toropchenko, 37-Finley, 22-Suter
Defensemen
6-Broberg, 23-Mailloux
41-Lindstein, 55-Parayko
17-Fowler, 4-Holl
Goalies
50-Binnington
30-Hofer
Healthy Extras
26-Walker
29-Berggren
51-Kessel
70-Sundqvist
Injured/Out
75-Tucker (lower body)
