Blues lose to Capitals, fail to gain in playoff race

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues failed to gain ground in the Western Conference wild-card race Monday, losing 4-2 to the Washington Capitals at Scottrade Center.
The Blues (43-30-6), who have lost three in a row (0-2-1), trail the Colorado Avalanche by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West with one game in hand. St. Louis is two points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the first wild card.

"Just know the situation we're in," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. "We understand where we're at and we know what we have to do to win. We've done it last week, the last couple of weeks, and it's going to be a good couple tests against Chicago and then Colorado to finish it out. We know basically we're in a win-out situation, so it's going to be a good challenge for us and we're looking forward to it. I know it's tough to turn the page quickly, but that's what we have to do and make sure that we're ready."
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Blues highlights]
Alex Ovechkin scored, Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist, and Braden Holtby made 34 saves for the Capitals (48-25-7), who are 11-2-0 in their past 13 games and have clinched first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"We came off a huge win Sunday (against the Pittsburgh Penguins) and got a lot of confidence with that and we just kept going," Backstrom said.
Backstrom scored 51 seconds into the second period on the rebound of a Brett Connolly shot to tie it 1-1. Alex Chiasson scored on a breakaway off a stretch pass from Jakub Jerabek to make it 2-1 at 2:39.
Andre Burakovsky made it 3-1 at 7:54, putting the puck through his legs and skating around Blues defenseman Vince Dunn before beating Jake Allen glove side.
"They had a lot to play for and we're just trying to put our game together," Burakovsky said. "Obviously, we're not taking our foot off the gas. We're battling just as hard for every game and every point."

Patrik Berglund cut it to 3-2 at 11:38 when his shot deflected off Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen past Holtby.
Ovechkin scored an empty-net goal on the power play to make it 4-2 at 18:29 of the third period.
Vladimir Tarasenko gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 3:38 of the first period, skating around Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov and scoring from the slot.
St. Louis went 0-for-4 on the power play and is 1-for-15 in its past seven games.
"We need to get a goal from our power play," Blues forward Alexander Steen said. "We're just not putting them in the back of the net. We have to find a way to put them in, especially at that time of the game."

Goal of the game

Burakovsky's goal at 7:54 of the second period.

Save of the game

Holtby's save on Tarasenko at 11:41 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Chiasson's goal at 2:39 of the second period.

They said it

"Both goalies are playing really well. They're pushing each other. They've responded every night." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz on goalies Braden Holtby and Philipp Grubauer
"The two [goalies] have been the backbone of this team all year. Whenever one was not playing as well as he wanted, the other was picking up the charge." -- Capitals forward Alex Chiasson
"We had a bad stretch there for about seven, eight minutes. They were able to get a 3-1 lead. I thought we threw everything at them. Holtby made some good saves. We just weren't able to buy that third goal tonight." -- Blues center Brayden Schenn
"We had some guys that were going, and we had some guys that weren't sharp enough and that wore on us, and obviously, they took advantage of that." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo

Need to know

Capitals forward T.J. Oshie sat out the game as a precaution. Oshie, who played Sunday against the Penguins, sustained a lower-body injury Friday in a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. ... Holtby is 7-0-0 in his career against the Blues. … St. Louis is 30th in the NHL on the power play (15.3 percent). ... Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo tied Barclay Plager for third in St. Louis history for most games played among defensemen (614), behind Bob Plager (615) and Barret Jackman (803).

What's next

Capitals: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Blues:Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)