Lost in the news that Bruce Boudreau's four-year run as head coach of the Washington Capitals ended Monday is that his former team returns to action Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues at Verizon Center.
Former Cap Dale Hunter replaces Boudreau after the latter won 201 regular season games in just over four years. Hunter will go for his first win as a NHL coach against a Blues team that is currently under the watch of their own new head coach, Ken Hitchcock. Under Hitchcock, St. Louis is 7-1-2 and has catapulted from 14th in the Western Conference to fifth.
Meanwhile, the Caps are 3-6-1 in their last 10 and 5-9-1 in their last 15, which necessitated the coaching change.
While Hunter will be making his return to D.C. Tuesday, so will Jaroslav Halak, who is scheduled to start for the Blues. Halak has not played at Verizon Center since playing an integral role in eliminating the Caps from the 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.