Vladimir Tarasenko will not play for the Blues on Wednesday night against Boston, the second full game he'll miss.
Tarasenko took a hit to the head in Saturday's game against the Rangers and finished the first period. Though the injury has the hallmarks of a concussion, the Blues are describing it only as an upper-body injury.
With Tarasenko out, the Blues will start with Alexander Steen in his spot on the top line with Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz. Steen played there for much of the Chicago game on Sunday.
"The guy that comes in and plays the best right now is Steener," Schenn said. "He does a heck of a job. We know what he's going to do. He's going to win every battle possible, he's strong on the wall, he sees guys really well to make plays. We feel he's a good piece to our line right now."
UPSHALL SKATES
Left wing Scottie Upshall, who hasn't played since March 3 because of a knee injury, was on the ice with the team in practice and could be back in action soon. The initial diagnosis of an MCL sprain said he would be out four weeks, so he's ahead of schedule.
"It's feeling good," Upshall said. "It feels really good. I've been working hard to get back. It's obviously a huge time of year where having bodies in the lineup -- healthy bodies -- are crucial. It was a tough injury but I've been working real hard to get back with the training staff and the coaches to get back."
"He's getting close," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "We'll see here but he may be ready to join us for practice, but obviously I still have to talk to the trainers. But talking to Scottie after practice, he feels good, he looks good out there. That's good news."
Upshall wasn't sure how quickly he could be back in a game.
"I'm just kind of taking it day to day," he said. "The training staff hasn't really cleared me with the doctors for contact yet. But today was a good skate. I've got to be able to skate and play physical, so today was a good test to see where I'm at and things looked good."
Jim Thomas contributed to this report.