Photo: NHL.com

The Washington Capitals beat the St. Louis Blues by a final score of 4-2 at Scottrade Center on Monday night for their 11th win in their last 13 games. T.J. Oshie (healthy scratch) and Jay Beagle (upper-body injury) were held out of the lineup. The Capitals finished up their final road game of the regular season and their final set of back-to-backs after winning 3-1 over the Penguins in Pittsburgh last night. Washington entered tonight with four consecutive wins against the Blues, including a 4-3 overtime victory earlier this season. 

Capitals’ Lineup at St. Louis Blues

#Caps lines vs STL:
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
65-Burakovsky, 19-Backstrom, 10-Connolly
63-Gersich, 20-Eller, 25-Smith-Pelly
13-Vrana, 18-Stephenson, 39-Chiasson

6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 28-Jerabek

Holtby vs. Allen. #CapsBlues

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) April 2, 2018

First Period

Vladimir Tarasenko put a laser to the top corner 3:38 in after taking a feed from Kyle Brodziak for his 32nd goal of the season. The goal gave the Blues a 1-0 lead and it also marked his fifth goal in six career games against Braden Holtby.

The Capitals led 8-7 in shots and won 61% of the faceoffs through one period of play.

The Blues led 7-3 in hits. Washington had three giveaways while St. Louis had none. The Blues went scoreless on the lone power play of the period for either team.

Each team blocked six shots and were each credited with four takeaways.

Second Period

Nicklas Backstrom tied the game 51 seconds into the middle frame. Brett Connolly pulled off a spin-o-rama shot that went off of Jake Allen’s pads and went right to Backstrom, who roofed his 20th goal of the season underneath the crossbar.

.@backstrom19 joins the #Caps 20 goal club! #CapsBlues #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/RW5ewrlnyO

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 3, 2018

Alex Chiasson roofed another shot underneath the crossbar after taking a cross-ice feed from Jakub Jerabek. Chiasson sniped his ninth goal of the season above Allen’s blocker to give Washington a 2-1 lead 1:48 after Backstrom scored.

Blocker side! #CapsBlues #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/wZqezYnSAa

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 3, 2018

Andre Burakovsky doubled the Capitals’ lead, pulling a nasty toe-drag through his own legs to get around Blues’ defenseman Vince Dunn after taking a feed from Backstrom in the neutral zone. The goal marked the third Capitals’ goal in a span of 7:51 and Burakovsky’s 11th of the season.

FILTHY. @andreburakovsky #CapsBlues #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/8G3QAdR0iZ

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 3, 2018

Patrick Berglund shot a puck from the right circle and deflected off of Matt Niskanen’s leg. The puck floated past Holtby to cut the Blues’ deficit to one.

The Capitals led 15-14 in shots during the middle frame and 23-21 in the game. The Capitals led the Blues 12-10 in blocked shots. They did not score on their lone power play opportunity of the game.

The Blues won 51% of the faceoffs and led 11-6 in takeaways through two. The Blues led 16-9 in hits. The Blues went scoreless on both of their power plays through the first two periods.

Each team had four giveaways.

Third Period

Amazing stop. @Holts170 #CapsBlues #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/h6dUPVTHzK

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 3, 2018

Braden Holtby made a beautiful glove save on Jaden Schwartz on the penalty kill.

Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal for his league-leading 46th goal of the season on the power play with 1:31 left.

The Capitals led 23-13 in blocked shots and only had five giveaways to the Blues’ six. They went 0-for-2 on the power play.

The Blues led 14-11 in shots in the third period and 35-34 in the game, 12-6 in takeaways, and 16-13 in hits. The Blues won 56% of the faceoffs. They went 0-for-4 on the power play.

Holtby made 34 saves in the win and is 7-0-0 lifetime against St. Louis.

Game Stats:

Shots:                          Capitals – 34                  Blues – 36

Faceoffs:                     Capitals – 44%              Blues – 56%

Blocked Shots:           Capitals – 25                  Blues – 13

Hits:                             Capitals – 13                  Blues – 16

Power Play:               Capitals – 1/2                 Blues – 0/4

Capitals Have a Thursday Night Date With Nashville at Capital One Arena

The Capitals host the defending Western Conference champion and league leaders, the Nashville Predators, on Thursday night. The Predators finish up a three-game road trip while the Capitals start a short two-game homestand to cap off the regular season. The Preds won 4-1 in Tampa Bay on Sunday and play the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center tomorrow night in Sunrise. Nashville has the second stingiest defense in the league, only yielding 2.49 goals per game. The Capitals fell 6-3 to the Predators in the first meeting of the season between the two teams back on November 14 at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is at 7 PM on NBC Sports Washington.

By Harrison Brown