St. Louis Blues spoil Dale Hunter's debut as Washington Capitals new coach 2-1 -NHL Update
Washington’s high management released long time coach, Bruce Boudreau, just a day earlier and replaced him with Dale Hunter, who had his debut spoiled by the St. Louis Blues who edged the Capitals, 2-1, on Tuesday night, November 29, 2011, at the sold out
Verizon Center in Washington, District of Columbia, United States.
The Blues kept their scoring on top and outshot the Capitals, 30-19, which was obviously the way they won by creating a number of opportunities for themselves.
"We played a heck of a hockey game," Blues coach, Ken Hitchcock, said. "We created a lot of scoring chances. We didn't give up anything in two periods. We created a lot for ourselves. We're starting to dial into playing the game the way we need to play to
win hockey games.”
Nicklas Backstrom went all out and scored the first goal of the night midway through the opening period for his eighth of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season off an assist by captain, Alex Ovechkin.
St. Louis came right back as T.J. Oshie levelled the match nearly five minutes later and forced an intense second round competition with both teams tied, 1-1.
"We didn't give up anything in two periods," added Hitchcock. "We're starting to dial in the way we need to play to win hockey games. When you play this well, it's a good feeling."
Matt D'Agostini finalised the scoring with his sixth of the season nearly midway through the second period, which was ultimately the game-winner for the team as both clubs failed to score in the next 30 plus minutes of regulation.
Ken Hitchcock has certainly succeeded in transforming the Blues franchise as he is 8-1-2 ever since he took over. Now the St. Louis team stands comfortable at number four in the Western Conference with 30 points and can easily move into the top three by
winning their upcoming games.
The Blues have the next on the road against the Colorado Avalanche on Friday while Washington will be hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins a day earlier on Thursday.
It will be interesting to see whether the Blues can keep up with the same momentum in their upcoming matchups or not.
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