Washington Capitals vs. St. Louis Blues Watch FREE LIve Streaming NHL Hockey from the Scottrade Center Tuesday night at 8:00 PM ET

Another loss to a division rival their last time out has left the Blues in an even more tenuous position as they look to hold onto first place in Western Conference.

They'll try to get back on track and strengthen their grip on the top spot when they host a desperate Capitals team Tuesday night.

St. Louis (52-19-7) has dropped two in a row since a 5-1-0 stretch, falling 4-2 on Sunday to a Chicago club playing without injured stars. Lack of offense has been a major problem for the Blues, as they've scored two or fewer goals in eight of 10 games.

St. Louis' lost weekend began with a 4-0 home defeat to Colorado on Saturday.

The Capitals (35-30-13) would love to have the Blues' problems, as they're struggling to stay in the playoff race. Washington earned a critical victory Saturday, overcoming a 3-1 second-period deficit for a 4-3 shootout win on the road over the Islanders.

"We battled back, that's the key," center Nicklas Backstrom said. "We had to do whatever was necessary to get those two points."

The Capitals, who ended an 0-3-2 stretch, are only four points out of the second wild-card spot in the East but will need to pass three teams to get there. Washington could also still reach the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, but that's extremely unlikely as it's six points back with four games remaining.

"All we can worry about is ourselves," Backstrom said. "You can't control anything else, but how you play as a team. We feel like we have our confidence back after this win."

Alex Ovechkin needs one goal to become the 11th player in league history to score 50 or more five times, and he had two in the teams' first meeting Nov. 17, a 4-1 Washington win. The Capitals are 5-2-1 in the last eight matchups, with Ovechkin recording four goals and seven assists in those games.