Photo: WTOP

The Washington Capitals look to salvage their first win of the preseason on Tuesday night when they face off against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. The game can be viewed on NBC Sports Washington starting at 8 PM.  

The Capitals conclude a three-game road trip against the Blues. They have had four days off since their last game, a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Friday night. They lost 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens at Videotron Centre in Quebec City the night prior.

Capitals’ head coach Todd Reirden told reporters that goaltender Pheonix Copley will play the entire game on Tuesday with Braden Holtby serving as his backup. Copley has posted a save percentage of .911 in his first two preseason games. The 26-year old goalie started his first two games of his NHL career with the Blues in the 2015-16 season and posted a record of 0-1-0 with a save percentage of .829 and a goals-against average of 4.32. The Capitals traded Copley to St. Louis in the T.J. Oshie trade in 2015 and re-acquired him at the trade deadline a couple years ago in the Kevin Shattenkirk trade.

The Capitals top-line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson will dress for the team. Defenseman John Carlson will make his preseason debut after dealing with a lower-body injury for the first part of training camp. Carlson signed an eight-year contract extension with the Capitals on June 24 after leading NHL defensemen with 68 points last season. The defenseman also tallied 20 points in 24 playoff games last season.

Forwards Lars Eller, who made his preseason debut against the Hurricanes after dealing with a lower-body injury for the first part of training camp, Brett Connolly, and Chandler Stephenson and defensemen Brooks Orpik, Christian Djoos, and Michal Kempny are also in the lineup from the Stanley Cup-winning team last season.

Notable prospects and rookies in the lineup suiting up in Tuesday’s game for the Capitals include forwards Shane Gersich, Nathan Walker, Riley Barber, and Travis Boyd, as well as defenseman Jonas Seigenthaler. Defensemen Madison Bowey and Aaron Ness will also be in the lineup against the Blues.

Capitals’ forward Devante Smith-Pelly will not be in the lineup once again. Reirden and Smith-Pelly are refusing to say why the forward hasn’t seen any action in the preseason but they both said the hope is for him to be ready when the team begins the regular season on October 3 against the Boston Bruins.

The Capitals will play two of their last three preseason games against St. Louis. The teams reconvene at Capital One Arena for the preseason finale on Sunday afternoon.

Blues’ Game Roster

Forwards: Ivan Barbashev, Sammy Blais, Tyler Bozak, Jordan Kyrou, Patrick Maroon, Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen, Vladimir Tarasenko, Robert Thomas, Chris Thorburn

Defense: Robert Bortuzzo, Jay Bouwmeester, Vince Dunn, Joel Edmundson, Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, Jordan Schmaltz

Goalies: Jake Allen, Chad Johnson

Capitals’ Game Roster