Oshie hat trick sparks Capitals to win against Blues

WASHINGTON -- T.J. Oshie scored a hat trick in the Washington Capitals’ 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

It was the sixth NHL hat trick for Oshie, who has six points (five goals, one assist) in his past four games. 

“It’s nice to get some goals here, get some points and it’s always fun to be the guy that’s putting the puck in the net,” said Oshie, who returned Jan. 11 after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury, “but there’s a lot of credit that’s got to go to [linemates Dylan] Strome and [Max Pacioretty]. There’s been an instant chemistry there.”

Strome had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (22-15-6), who have won consecutive games for the first time since they won three in row from Dec. 17-21, and are 4-2-0 in their past six. Pacioretty and John Carlson each had two assists, and Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves.

“We’re playing much more consistent, shift to shift, period to period, and now game to game,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said.

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who missed the previous three games because of a lower-body injury, played 15:25 and had an assist, increasing his point streak to seven games (eight points; two goals, six assists).

Nathan Walker scored two goals, and Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for the Blues (21-20-2), who have lost three straight (0-2-1).

St. Louis went 0-for-5 on the power play; Washington was 2-for-4.

“Power play, as a whole, they have to be better,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “We have to execute. That’s plain and simple and it bled into the rest of our game. It didn’t give us any momentum at any time.”

Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead on the power play at 10:24 of the first period when he controlled a contested puck in the left face-off circle and scored on a wrist shot over Binnington’s left shoulder.

“He’s a special player, a special guy to have in the room,” Strome said of Oshie. “I think you can tell the way our team plays when he’s in the lineup and when he’s not. I think he adds a ton to our team and in the dressing room as well.”

Walker tied it 1-1 at 17:54, scoring on a deflection of Nick Leddy’s shot from the left point.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 3:32 of the second period when his centering pass deflected in off St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk in the slot.

“I think it actually bounced up off the ice and hit me in, like, the ankle,” Faulk said. “I thought it was going to stay on the ice, and that's an easy handle. But, yeah, obviously I'm not trying to redirect it. I was just trying to get it to stop in my feet and make the play out and it just ricocheted off pretty good.”

Oshie increased the lead to 3-1 on the power play at 10:27. He completed a tic-tac-toe passing sequence by scoring on a one-timer from the slot off a feed from Strome, who had received a pass from Pacioretty.

“The power play was a difference-maker tonight,” Carbery said. “And then the penalty kill, when you go back in that game, there were some teetering moments where, they score a power-play goal and now all of a sudden the game’s flipped.”

Strome made it 4-1 at 34 seconds of the third period when he knocked in the rebound of Ovechkin’s shot four seconds after a Capitals power play ended.

Walker pulled the Blues within 4-2 at 4:01, deflecting Faulk’s shot.

Oshie completed the hat trick when he scored into an empty net at 19:40 for the 5-2 final.

“We had plenty of chances to find ways to make this a tighter game and buckle down on the penalty kill, and we just weren't able to,” Faulk said. “A couple breakdowns and missed assignments and it ends up in our net.”

NOTES: The teams will complete the home-and-home at St. Louis on Saturday. … The Capitals are 13-2-2 when scoring first this season. … Washington is 16-for-16 on the penalty kill over its past five games. It had been 0-for-8 on the power play in its previous five. … The Blues had a seven-game point streak against the Capitals end (6-0-1).