ST. LOUIS _ The Blues came out flying after banner-raising ceremony, taking a quick 2-0 lead on Washington, and then came back to earth and lost 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Jakub Vrana at Enterprise Center.
Washington tied the game with 7:32 to go in the second on a power play goal by Dmitry Orlov that hit the stick of Alexander Steen and then fluttered its way over the shoulder of a frustrated Jordan Binnington.
The Blues scored just 53 seconds into their season on a goal by Sammy Blais, who finished off a pass from David Perron. Then Alex Pietrangelo made it 2-0 on a power-play goal, hitting a one-timer off a pass from new defensive partner Justin Faulk.
Alex Ovechkin scored with 4:23 to go in the period to get the Caps on the board.
After a brief flurry of chances The second period was all about the Capitals, who at one point had 14 consecutive shots on goal and outshot the Blues 15-8.
Letting two-goal leads getaway was an early hallmark of last season. The difference between early in the season and late was that later in the season, when they lost a two-goal lead, they would come back to win. Early on, they didn't.
It wasn't a great night on the faceoff dot for the Blues, who are at 45% after two periods, though that's an improvement since they were at 29% after the first period.
