Blues player of the game vs. Capitals: Nathan Walker

The forward, who was recently recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League, will give you all he's got out of every ounce of his 5-foot-9, 187-pound body.

No matter the opponent, no matter the score, no matter the time of game, the 29-year-old will give you every ounce of energy he's got.

He did so, providing the lethargic Blues their only offense in a 5-2 loss against the Washington Capitals, Walker's former team, on Thursday at Capital One Arena.

And Walker did it by going to the areas where many of his teammates won't touch: the front of the net to do so.

He got a piece of Nick Leddy's point shot dragging it off the left side, getting a stick on the puck to tie the game 1-1 at 17:54 of the first period.

And when the Blues needed a jolt that didn't do much else the rest of the game because most of Walker's teammates were sleep-skating through this game, he cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-2 at 4:01 when he got a piece of Justin Faulk's shot coming in off the right point by going to the net that was originally given to Faulk.

Walker was a plus-1 in the game in limited action, playing just 9:28 with the two shots on tips, one hit and one blocked shot and more than stood out despite having one costly play that ended up as Washington's second goal when he didn't get a puck in deep from the neutral zone.