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Capitals try for rare road win in St. Louis

Dec 1, 2010 - 3:59 PM (Sports Network) - The Washington Capitals will aim for a fourth consecutive victory when they visit the sliding St. Louis Blues for tonight's interconference clash at the Scottrade Center.

The Capitals, who lead the NHL with 36 points, are in the midst of a three- game winning streak and recently ended the month of November with a superb 10-2-2 record.

However, the Caps will have to erase a long losing streak in St. Louis to keep their current streak going. The Blues notched a 4-3 shootout victory over a visiting Washington club last year, giving the Capitals eight straight losses in St. Louis. The Blues haven't lost to the Caps in the Gateway City since Oct. 26, 1996.

Overall, the Blues are 10-1-1 with a tie in their last 13 overall meetings with the Capitals.

Washington had lost three in a row prior to its current win streak, which features a pair of victories against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Caps posted a pair of 3-2 victories over the Hurricanes last week and sandwiched between those wins was a 6-0 blowout victory over Tampa Bay.

The Caps' most recent win over Carolina came Sunday in D.C., where Alex Ovechkin scored the lone goal of the shootout to deliver the victory.

After a scoreless extra session, Ovechkin gave Washington the lead in the shootout as he faked to the forehand and lifted it past Cam Ward. Washington goaltender Semyon Varlamov then made saves on Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu to seal the win.

Alexander Semin and Marcus Johansson each had a goal in regulation for the Capitals, while Varlamov made 26 stops in the win.

"We wanted to finish it out in regulation, of course, but they fought hard and were able to tie it," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau. "That next goal I think would have broken their will, but we didn't get it. Still, we got the win and at the end that's all that counts."

Caps defenseman Mike Green played in Sunday's game after missing his previous two tests with an undisclosed injury, but had to be helped into the locker room in overtime after blocking a shot with his knee. Green is expected to play in tonight's tilt.

Washington is 5-5-1 as the road team this year and will also visit Dallas tomorrow night before returning to D.C. for a four-game homestand.

The Blues, meanwhile, have lost their last three games -- all in regulation -- and the club surrendered seven goals last night in a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews both scored twice to lead the Blackhawks to the 7-5 victory over the visiting Blues.

David Backes tallied a goal and three assists while Patrik Berglund and Brad Boyes were among the goal scorers for the Blues. Ty Conklin allowed all seven goals on 24 shots in the losing effort.

The Blues did trail the game, 5-1, at one point midway through the second period, but they rallied to cut the deficit to 5-4 early in the third. That's when Kane and Toews added Chicago's sixth and seventh goals of the night to put the game out of reach.

"We obviously needed to play a little bit longer before we gave up that sixth goal," Blues head coach Davis Payne said.

The Blues are 8-1-1 as the home team this season, but have split their last four at Scottrade Center.