from Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

There are all sorts of ways teams can make it to the NHL playoffs, but at some point, you just have to take care of business.

That’s what the Blues’ game on Thursday with Ottawa was: A chance to take care of business. The Blues’ rise back into relevance may have been fostered by wins over teams like Tampa Bay and Nashville during their 11-game win streak, but when you’re presented with a team like Ottawa, which came into the game with the fewest points in the NHL and, after a trade-deadline fire sale was fielding a lineup that included two players making their NHL debuts, those are two points you can’t let get away.

But it’s anything but business as usual for the Blues right now, who with a collection of injuries to goalscorers have seen their offense shrivel up. Down Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron, two of their top three in goals, scoring continues to be the toughest of assignments and that showed up in a 2-0 loss to lowly Ottawa on Thursday at General Tire Centre.

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Game highlights are below.