Capitals Pound Blues, NHL Scores

By ESPN

Justin Williams normally keeps his focus on the ice.

Yet, the Washington Capitals' winger couldn't help but glance up to the press box after his goal in the Capitals' 7-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

The fathers of the Washington players are on their annual road trip with the team, and that put a little added pressure on Williams.

"I'm 35 years old and I still want to impress my dad," Williams said of his father Craig. "I saw him up there. It felt good. I bet he was happy."

Andre Burakovsky, T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had a goal and an assist as seven different players scored.

Jay Beagle, Brett Connolly, and Marcus Johansson also scored, and Alex Ovechkin and Daniel Winnik each had two assists to help Washington earn at least a point in its 12th straight game (10-0-2) for an NHL-best 66 points.

Braden Holtby bounced back from his roughest outing of the season with 22 saves. Holtby was pulled after giving up a season-high five goals on 26 shots in an 8-7 overtime loss at Pittsburgh on Monday. He improved to 22-8-4 and 5-0 lifetime against St. Louis.

The Capitals' razor-sharp performance could not have come at a better time. Each member of the team has either a father or brother on the two-game trip, which will conclude in Dallas on Saturday.

Looking good in front of the group is important, says Oshie, who burned his former team with his 16th goal of the season.

"This is a way of thanking them for all of the sacrifices and the things they did to get us where we're at," Oshie said. "For some of them, this was their dream when they were younger."

Holtby agreed.

"This is a pretty special trip, we look forward to it every year," he said.

This is the ninth successive season the Capitals have put together what they call a, "Mentor's Trip."

They are 11-5 with the group in tow since 2008.

Washington has scored 30 goals in the last five games and five goals or more in eight of the past 11.

"It's strange that everything seems to be going in," Williams said. "You can't get carried away. Scoring five, six, seven goals a night -- it's not going to last."

Alexander Steen scored twice and Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists for St. Louis, which has lost its last three against Washington.

Thursday, January 19 Scoreboard

New York Islanders 3, Dallas 0

Ottawa 2, Columbus 0

New York  Rangers 5, Toronto 2

Washington 7, St. Louis 3

Minnesota 4, Arizona 3

Nashville 4, Calgary 3

Anaheim 2, Colorado 1

San Jose 2, Tampa Bay 1

Friday, January 20 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Boston, 6 p.m.

Detroit at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Montreal at New Jersey, 6:30 p.m.

Nashville at Edmonton, 8 p.m.

Florida at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

Saturday, January 21 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Winnipeg, 2 p.m.

Carolina at Columbus, 4 p.m.

Ottawa at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Buffalo at Montreal, 6 p.m.

Los  Angeles at New York Islanders, 6 p.m.

New Jersey at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Washington at Dallas, 7 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Arizona, 7 p.m.

Anaheim at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

Edmonton at Calgary, 9 p.m.

Colorado at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Rangers at Detroit, 11:30 a.m.

Boston at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m.

Columbus at Ottawa, 4 p.m.

Philadelphia at New York Islanders, 5 p.m.

Vancouver at Chicago, 6:30 p.m.

Nashville at Minnesota, 7 p.m.