Blues' David Backes day-to-day with LBI

The St. Louis Blues are in quite a spot.

Not only have they lost three consecutive games - giving up four goals in each - but now they may have to try and pull out of their late-season funk without team captain David Backes, whom the team lists as day-to-day with an unspecified lower body injury.

The centerman was injured when he took an Alexander Steen drive off of his foot during Tuesday night's 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, taking one more shift after suffering the injury, then departing for the room for evaluation and treatment.

No further word has emerged from the Blues regarding Backes' condition.

Though they are aided by the fact that their next opponent - the Minnesota Wild - has no motivation to do anything but prepare for their first round playoff opponent (and probably have no interest in trying to secure a higher seed that would cause them to match up with the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks), their last two opponents of the regular season have plenty still on the line and will be desperate.

After the Blues visit Minnesota, they travel to Dallas to face a Stars' who hold a precarious two-point lead over the Phoenix Coyotes for the final playoff spot in the west, then return home to find a Detroit Red Wings team that will be looking to move up to the sixth seed in the east - possibly even the fifth - to take on either the Canadiens or Lightning as opposed to remaining the seventh seed and having to deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

If the Blues can't manage some points out of their last three contests, they will surely miss out on the President's Trophy - which they probably would anyway given that the Boston Bruins have a three point lead with three games to go - but even worse, they could be overtaken by Anaheim or the surging Avalanche and be forced to face a scrappy Minnesota team or Los Angles in the first round.

Of course, missing Backes and his 27 goals and 57 points aren't a deal breaker in respect to holding onto the top spot in the Western Conference, but breaking the current losing funk they are in is imperative if they want to make noise in the playoffs - and they have only three games to find a cure.