Ottawa, ON (Sports Network) - Jason Spezza's second period goal gave Ottawa a lead it would never relinquish as the Senators edged the struggling St. Louis Blues, 3-2, at Scotiabank Place.

Antoine Vermette and Christoph Schubert also scored for the Senators, who have won four of five. Dany Heatley added his 40th assist of the season, while Martin Gerber stopped 24 shots to earn the win.

The victory allowed Ottawa to remain three points behind the Northeast Division-leading Canadiens, who won in Boston on Thursday. Ottawa also pulled two points ahead of the idle Rangers for sole possession of the fifth slot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

"It doesn't matter who you beat this time of year," Spezza said. " Every win is huge, so it's nice to be able to come home after losing on the road Sunday and get a win here in our own building. We're happy to get the two points tonight, but we know there's a log-jam in the race for the top spot of both the division and the conference, so every night is like a playoff game."

Jamal Mayers and Jeff Woywitka each tallied for the Blues, who fell to 1-6-1 on their franchise-record nine-game road trip that ends Sunday in Chicago. Hannu Toivonen allowed three goals on 24 shots to absorb the loss.

Tied after the first period, Ottawa gained a 3-2 edge 7:39 into the second, when Heatley fired a rising shot from the left circle that Spezza deflected over Toivonen's outstretched glove.

"It was a great pass from Dany," Spezza said. "I just went to the net knowing he'd get it to me there and when he did, I just had to tap it in. It was one of those bang-bang plays that's tough for a goalie to do anything about."

Gerber stopped all 10 shots he faced in the second period to preserve the one goal advantage heading into the final 20 minutes.

Ottawa held on in the third period, as Gerber turned aside all six St. Louis shots and held the Blues scoreless over the game's final 47-plus minutes.

Vermette gave Ottawa the lead just 2:06 into the first period with his 18th tally of the season. He beat Paul Kariya on a 2-on-1 rush, took a cross- ice feed from Chris Kelly and stuffed a shot past Toivonen.

"It's great to be able to score goals and do things to help the team win," Vermette said. "It doesn't matter who it is, or how we do it, but we have to work on finding ways to win. We did that tonight coming from behind to get the two points."

The Blues tied the game just before the halfway point of the first. Mayers forced a turnover at center ice and fired a shot wide of the net that caromed to Barret Jackman at the point for a shot that was deflected by Mayers into the back of the net.

Woywitka put St. Louis up, 2-1, with 7:47 left in the first, charging to the left side of the net and slamming home a pass from Keith Tkachuk.

Schubert tied the game four minutes later, as he found himself wide open in the slot and one-timed a pass from Shean Donovan past Toivonen.