Blues slip by Capitals 3-0, but Robert Thomas hurt in third period

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Mar 24, 2026

Published in Hockey

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ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues beat the Capitals 3-0 on Tuesday night, but lost center Robert Thomas in the process.

Thomas left the game with 11:35 remaining in the third period after he was tackled to the ice by Washington's Pierre-Luc Dubois away from the puck. Thomas bumped into Dubois (and was assessed a minor penalty for interference), but Dubois responded by throwing Thomas down.

Thomas appeared to hit his head on the ice, stayed down and then skated off the ice on his own before disappearing down the tunnel behind the bench. Dubois was given a match penalty for intent to injure, and ejected from the game. Match penalties carry an automatic suspension until the commissioner rules on the issue.

Jimmy Snuggerud, Otto Stenberg and Jordan Kyrou (empty-net) scored for the Blues, as Joel Hofer recorded his sixth shutout of the season by making 22 saves. Hofer's six shutouts are the second-most in the NHL.

Thomas has missed 17 games this season due to injury.

The Blues have 12 regular-season games remaining, and will host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. They improved to 9-2-2 since the Olympic break.

Stay hot, rook

With his second-period goal, Snuggerud recorded his 13th point in the 13 games since the Olympic break, which is second-most in the NHL among rookies behind Calder Trophy favorite Matthew Schaefer. Snuggerud's six goals since the break tied him with Schaefer and Matthew Wood for most in the NHL among rookies.

Snuggerud began the play by bumping a puck down the wall into the corner to create a stall on the forecheck. Thomas won the puck and his feed into the slot was deflected to Philip Broberg in the middle of the ice. He swung the puck to Logan Mailloux in front of the Blues bench, and Mailloux found Snuggerud at the left faceoff dot.

Snuggerud uncorked a one-timer that beat Logan Thompson for his 16th goal overall this season. He tied Thomas, Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich for the team lead in goals, but Kyrou's empty-netter retook the lead with his 17th.

The goal snapped a four-game goal drought for Snuggerud, though he did have one goal disallowed in Vancouver due to goaltender interference by Dylan Holloway.

Since Holloway, Thomas and Snuggerud were put together on March 6, they've been the Blues' most dynamic line. Snuggerud's goal marked the line's 12th goal since their formation, while the rest of the Blues combined for 11.

Mailloux's assist on Snuggerud's goal gave him four assists in his last four games as the right-handed defenseman has assumed a greater role after the trade of Justin Faulk. His assist also came moments after the Blues avoided disaster to start the second period.

With the Capitals on the power play, Jack Finley won the opening draw to Mailloux, but the puck got caught in his skates and ultimately set up a Washington 2 on 1 with Tom Wilson's shot on goal. Wilson's shot dinged Hofer in the head, causing a delay in the game while Hofer dealt with his equipment.

Temperature rising

The second period got a little bit testy between the cross-conference foes.

Stenberg got in his first fight in the NHL when Ryan Leonard dropped the gloves with him at 7:38 of the second. Stenberg caught Leonard with a right shoulder to Leonard's jaw in the neutral zone, and Leonard chased him down to deliver a slash inside the Blues zone.

Leonard dropped his gloves first in a quick bout. The Capitals bench appeared to lobby for an extra minor penalty against Stenberg for the initial hit. Leonard was not given an instigator penalty.

Tensions rose again about 4 1/2 minutes later when Wilson hit Snuggerud late along the boards, leading Snuggerud to retaliate with a cross-check to Wilson's lower back. That exchange set off a scrum in front of the Capitals net.

As Wilson and Snuggerud were being ushered into their penalty boxes, another get-together flared up at center ice. The primary combatant was Thomas, who had Capitals rookie Cole Hutson in a headlock while delivering gloved punches.

Wilson was assessed a double-minor for roughing, Snuggerud received two for cross-checking and Thomas got two for roughing. Snuggerud and Thomas were both released from the box in time for a Blues power play 2:30 after the calls.

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