Blais scores 2 in Hofer’s Blues debut
Sammy Blais scored twice, Joel Hofer made 33 saves in his season debut and the St. Louis Blues dealt the Washington Capitals a significant blow in their long-shot bid for a playoff spot with a 5-2 victory Friday night.
The Capitals missed an opportunity to make up ground in the race for an Eastern Conference wildcard spot against an opponent long out of it in the West. They trail the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders by five points with 12 games left to play.
Their odds of making it would have been even slimmer if not for a comeback victory in a shootout against Buffalo on Wednesday, but each regulation loss makes the climb more difficult. Coming up empty in a listless, mistake-heavy loss to St. Louis does just tht.
There was plenty of blame to go around for Washington.
Trade deadline pickup Rasmus Sandin — one of two additions amid a selloff — was on the ice for four goals against, and poor puck management gave the Blues quality chances. Darcy Kuemper allowed at least one soft goal among the four he gave up on 21 shots behind a defense missing Nick Jensen because of injury.
Zach Aston-reese scored twice and Toronto snapped a two-game skid with a win over Carolina.
Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist, and Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews also scored to help Toronto improve to 4-2-1 in its last seven games. John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok each had two assists and Ilya Samsonov finished with 31 saves to help Toronto increase its lead to three points ahead of thirdplace Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division.
Martin Necas and Brady Skjei each scored for Carolina in its third loss in four games. Pyotr Kochetkov had 19 saves as the Hurricanes remained one point ahead of second-place New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division.
Aston-reese got the scoring started as he tipped Erik Gustafsson’s shot from the right point past Kochetkov 2:54 into the game.
Marner made it 2-0 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first as fired a shot from the right circle off the post and in for his 25th.
Owen Tippett had his first career hat trick, Carter Hart made 34 saves and Philadelphia snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Buffalo.
James van Riemsdyk and Joel Farabee also scored, and Kevin Hayes and Tony Deangelo each had two assists for Philadelphia. The Flyers snapped a four-game skid while winning for just the fourth time in 14 games since the All-star break.
Victor Olofsson scored both goals for the Sabres. Buffalo entered six points back of a wild-card spot.
The Flyers began play with the fifth-fewest points in the NHL, and losing only helps their lottery chances in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. Bedard is considered to be a lock for the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, and Philadelphia certainly could use his talents in its rebuilding process.