The Blues have been in a downward spiral the last month and they got more bad news Monday.

General manager Doug Armstrong announced defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, 34, would miss the remainder of the season with a hip injury and that forward Scottie Upshall will be out at least four weeks with a left MCL sprain.

"Jay wants to play through anything, and it shows a lot of character for him to play through the pain of his hip," Armstrong said. "From December on it was very painful doing day-to-day things and playing hockey. But he fought through it for us, and I give him full marks for that."

Both players suffered their latest injuries in Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Stars. Bouwmeester, a two-time All-Star, had been trying to play through a nagging hip injury all season but said a fall against the Stars aggravated the injury enough for him to choose season-ending surgery. 

"I kind of got tripped up and fell down awkwardly. That was that," said Bouwmeester, who faces a recovery time of 4-6 months. "I pretty much knew it was not good … it was just a matter of time, I think.

"You do what you can to play until you can't play anymore. At a certain point you just have to think down the road and for me, this is the best thing. Just get it fixed and move on," Bouwmeester added. "The hardest thing is not being able to play and not being able to play right now. We're still right there, we're two points out of the playoffs and I'm at the point in my career where that's all I want to do is play in the playoffs and have a chance to win."

Upshall, 34, has dressed in 61 games this season and has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) with 46 penalty minutes. The 15-year veteran has accumulated 284 points (138 goals, 146 assists) and 615 penalty minutes over his career. 

The Blues (35-26-5) began the season as one of the NHL's hottest teams, but currently sit two points back of the Kings for the final playoff spot and will take on the Sharks, who are four points ahead of the Blues, on Thursday. 

"I know inside of our locker room, there is still a lot of belief," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "There's still a lot of character. ... We're still going to do everything we can to continue to fight and push and give ourselves a chance to get in. 

"Certain people seem to find a way when things are like and, obviously, we're hoping to prove we're a group of those people."

Mike Yeo says there's still a lot of belief in the locker room. "Certain people seem to find a way." #stlblues pic.twitter.com/RQQrNyum0a

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 5, 2018