WASHINGTON — Brayden Schenn played his 1,000th regular-season NHL game when he and the St. Louis Blues beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Thursday night.

Older brother Luke played his 1,000th game Oct. 17 with the Nashville Predators. The Schenns are the eighth set of brothers to each reach that milestone and the first to do so in the same season.

“I’ve always said you don’t get there without the help of tons of people,” Brayden said after his team’s morning skate. “Family being one and coaches and players and teammates and people in the organization. Obviously, you have to embrace the day-to-day grind of the ups and downs and just how hard this league is, but, yeah, pretty special that we have best buddies that push each other every day and get to do it in the same year.”

Blues players celebrated the occasion with Schenn shirts and hats with the captain’s No. 10 on them. Father Jeff gave a pregame speech in the locker room after coach Jim Montgomery said, “Schenner and his bro both getting 1,000 games in the same season is a tribute to the great family raised by Jeff and his wife.”

Jeff Schenn said Brayden was his favorite player on the Blues and tied for his favorite overall, of course, with Luke.

“Honored and privileged and very proud to be part of the big day and the big journey that goes along with it,” their dad said. “You see the hard work and the dedication and the bumps and the bruises and everything you guys put into it. … Just so excited and happy to be here and awful proud of him.”

Montgomery said after the win that Jeff Schenn looked very comfortable speaking in front of the group.

“Jeff and his wife, Brayden’s parents, they raised four great kids and two have played 1,000 games in the NHL,” Montgomery said. “His message was well-received, and you could tell by our start that we wanted to play for our captain.”

Dylan Holloway, who scored twice, said because it was Schenn’s 1,000th game, the Blues “wanted this one bad.”

The Capitals acknowledged the milestone with a message on arena videoboards and an announcement during the first period.

Brayden getting to 1,000 comes amid talk ahead of the March 7 trade deadline that teams are interested in acquiring both of them in separate moves. The Blues are on the fringe of the playoff race in the Western Conference, while the Predators are far out of contention.

“The times I’ve gotten traded, I didn’t expect to get traded, so you really never know,” Brayden said, adding he has loved his time with St. Louis. “It’s a business and that just comes with the flows of kind of where we’re positioned, five points out of the playoffs. But it’s the trade deadline, so some people make rumors. … You just take it a day at a time and just focus on your game and play.”

Brayden, 33, has three years left on his contract at an annual salary cap hit of $6.5 million. Luke, 35, has one more season left after this one at $2.75 million.

The Schenn brothers have played together in the NHL before, spending 3½ seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013 to 2015. Brayden won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, then Luke back to back with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Michael Bunting is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix.

“He’ll be out here for the next little while,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday. “I don’t know the time frame at this point, but that’s that.”

Bunting notched an assist in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 setback to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. He has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) and a minus-18 rating in 58 games this season.

Bunting, 29, has totaled 210 points (90 goals, 120 assists) and a plus-10 rating in 326 career games with the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and Penguins.

Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the team announced.

Frederic sustained the injury during the Bruins’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The timing of the injury is significant for Frederic, who is considered an attractive candidate to be shopped ahead of the NHL trade deadline on March 7.

A pending unrestricted free agent, Frederic has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) and a minus-14 rating in 57 games this season.

Those totals are a far cry from his career season in 2023-24, when he totaled 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) and a plus-9 rating in 82 games.

Frederic, 27, has totaled 109 points (55 goals, 54 assists) and a plus-20 rating in 337 career games since being selected by the Bruins with the 29th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft.