Capitals at Blues preview

CAPITALS (47-25-7) at BLUES (43-29-6)
8 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, FS-MW, NBCSWA, NHL.TV

The Blues trail the Colorado Avalanche by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West and Los Angeles Kings by two points for the first wild card with a game in hand on each. The Avalanche and Kings play later Monday in Los Angeles.
The Capitals clinched the Metropolitan Division title for the third straight season with a 3-1 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
Goaltender Braden Holtby will start for Washington, which is 6-1-0 in its past seven games and 10-2-0 in the past 12.

Players to watch

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in his past 12 games and 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 15 games against St. Louis.
Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games.

They said it

"We still want to be playing well the last couple games. We went from a very emotional game here (in Pittsburgh) against a top team to St. Louis, [which] is going to be angry after their loss [Saturday]. They're trying to get into the playoffs, so they're going to come at us real hard." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz
"We know it's important to be aware of the opponent. They're 10-2 in their last 12 games." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Andre Burakovsky -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana -- Lars Eller -- Devante Smith-Pelly
Alex Chiasson -- Chandler Stephenson -- Brett Connolly
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Jakub Jerabek
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Christian Djoos, Shane Gersich](https://www.nhl.com/player/shane-gersich-8478063)
Injured:Jay Beagle (upper body)

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund -- Kyle Brodziak -- Alexander Steen
Dmitrij Jaskin -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Tage Thompson
Ivan Barbashev -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Chris Thorburn
Joel Edmundson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn -- Colton Parayko
Chris Butler
-- Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Mitch Reinke](https://www.nhl.com/player/mitch-reinke-8480761?season=20172018), Nolan Stevens](https://www.nhl.com/player/nolan-stevens-8479588?season=20172018)
Injured:Nikita Soshnikov (upper body), Jordan Schmaltz (upper body)

Status report

The Capitals did not hold a morning skate. … Beagle was injured Sunday and is doubtful; Chiasson or Gersich will replace him. ... Upshall sustained a lacerated left kidney in the second period of a 6-0 loss at the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday and will be out indefinitely; he played two games after missing 10 when he sustained a left MCL knee sprain on March 3. Soshnikov skated but is not ready to return.

Stat pack

Ovechkin has 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 16 games against the Blues. He has hat tricks in two of his past four games against St. Louis. ... Allen is 8-2-1 with a 2.39 goals-against average and .909 save percentage his past 11 starts.