One day after coach Bruce Boudreau was fired, the Washington Capitals fell at home, 2-1, to the St. Louis Blues. Nicklas Backstrom opened the scoring in half way through the first period, on only the Caps' second shot of the night. Backstrom beat Jaroslav Halak on a quick chip shot after being set up by an end-to-end play by Alexander Ovechkin. TJ Oshie tied it five and half minutes later, on a rebound that hit the post and dropped right next to Washington goaltender Tomas Vokoun.
The Blues took the one goal lead in the second period after Matt D'Agostini beat Vokoun on a bad rebound off the Caps' netminder. Patrik Berglund put the puck behind Vokoun, who came too far out of the crease and was caught out of position, and D'Agostini came around the net to quickly knock it in for the game winning goal.
Tough guy Matt Hendricks would drop the gloves with Scott Nichol in the third, but that was the only action in the third as Washington would fail to score, resulting in their tenth loss of the season. The team looked inspired and energized at times under new coach Dale Hunter, but the result was more of the same.
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