Blues rout Senators 7-2 as three players score twice each
Key takeaways
- The Blues beat the Senators 7-2 on Tuesday night in Ottawa.
- Pius Suter, Jake Neighbours, and Mason McTavish each scored twice.
- Ottawa lost after winning three games in a row.
The St. Louis Blues crushed the Ottawa Senators 7-2 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
Three Blues players scored two goals each.
Pius Suter, Jake Neighbours, and Mason McTavish each found the net twice. Adam Jiricek also scored. It was the first NHL goal of his career.
The win was the second in a row for St. Louis. The loss ended a three-game win streak for Ottawa.
What happened
St. Louis opened the scoring in the first period. Suter scored a short-handed goal at 14:28.
Short-handed means his team had one less player on the ice at the time. Colton Parayko won the puck along the boards. He fed Suter on the rush.
Suter went in alone and beat goalie Samuel Ersson.
The Blues led 1-0 after the first period. They added to the lead in the second period. Neighbours scored at 13:20 of the second period.
He fired a shot from the high slot. The puck went through traffic and past Ersson. St.
Louis led 2-0.
Ottawa fought back. Claude Giroux scored at 17:52 of the second period. Tim Stutzle battled for the puck behind the net.
He sent a backhand pass to Giroux in the right circle. Giroux fired a wrist shot high to the blocker side. The goal cut the lead to 2-1.
The goal was a big one for Giroux. It was his 1,170th career point. That tied Hall of Famer Bobby Hull for 59th place on the NHL career scoring list.
But the joy did not last long. McTavish answered 33 seconds later. He scored at 18:25 of the second period.
Jonatan Berggren found him near the crease. McTavish backhanded the puck into the open net. St.
Louis led 3-1.
The third period was all Blues. Suter scored his second goal at 7:54 of the third period. He shot from a sharp angle.
The shot snuck under the arm of Ersson. St. Louis led 4-1.
Neighbours scored his second goal at 14:46 of the third period. He tapped in a pass from Pavel Buchnevich on the rush. The lead grew to 5-1.
Less than a minute later, McTavish scored his second goal. He scored on the power play at 15:33 of the third period. A power play means his team had one extra player on the ice.
He shot from the right circle. St. Louis led 6-1.
Jiricek then scored his first NHL goal at 16:32 of the third period. He beat Ersson from just above the right circle. The Blues led 7-1.
Jiricek was playing his sixth NHL game.
Fabian Zetterlund scored a late power-play goal for Ottawa at 18:33. That made the final score 7-2.
Why it matters
The win shows how deep the Blues attack can be. Three players scored twice. A fourth player scored his first career goal.
Buchnevich added three assists. The goals came from all over the lineup.
That kind of balance is hard for any team to stop. Ottawa could not key on one line. Every time the Senators tried to push back, a new Blues scorer answered.
The win also gives St. Louis a 3-2-1 record. The Blues have won two games in a row.
They have points in three straight games. The team is building momentum early in the season.
Goalie Joel Hofer made 15 saves for St. Louis. He did not face a lot of shots.
But he stopped what came his way. His team made his night easy by scoring seven goals.
For Ottawa, the loss is a sharp drop. The Senators came in with a 5-1-0 record. They had won three games in a row.
They had the best start to a season in team history since 2007-08. Tuesday ended that run in a loud way.
Ottawa was playing the second game of a back-to-back. The team won 4-1 at New Jersey on Monday. Then it traveled home and played again on Tuesday.
That is a hard turn. The legs looked heavy in the third period.
Ersson made 19 saves for Ottawa. He was making his second start for the team. He faced a lot of high-quality chances.
The Blues scored from close range again and again.
What about the Senators hot start
Ottawa came into Tuesday on a high. The team had won five of its first six games. It was the first time the team had done that since the 2007-08 season.
The start tied for the second-best start in team history.
Goalie Linus Ullmark had started the season 5-0-0. He became just the third Ottawa goalie to win his first five starts. He joined Ray Emery and Dominik Hasek on that list.
Stutzle had also started fast. He had 10 points in six games. He had five goals and five assists.
It was the best start to a season in his career.
Tuesday did not fit that story. The Senators scored only two goals. They gave up seven.
They lost at home. The team will want to forget this game fast.
But one game does not erase a strong start. Ottawa still has a 5-2-0 record. The team still has time to fix its problems.
The key will be rest. The back-to-back schedule gave the team little time to recover.
What happens next
St. Louis plays next on Thursday. The Blues travel to Minnesota.
The team will try to win a third game in a row. The attack is hot. The team will try to keep it rolling.
Ottawa also plays Thursday. The Senators host the New York Islanders. The team will try to bounce back at home.
A win would put the bad loss behind them.
For Jiricek, Tuesday was a night to remember. A first NHL goal is a career moment. He will keep that puck.
He will also want more. Young players grow fast when they taste success.
For Giroux, the night was mixed. He hit a career milestone. He tied a Hall of Famer on the scoring list.
But his team lost by five goals. That mix of pride and pain is part of hockey.
The turning point
The game turned in 33 seconds. Giroux scored at 17:52 of the second period. The crowd was loud.
The lead was down to one goal. Ottawa had life.
Then McTavish scored at 18:25. The lead was back to two goals. The crowd went quiet.
The third period became a rout.
That fast answer broke Ottawa. Teams need time to build hope after a goal. The Blues gave them no time at all.
They scored again before the hope could grow.
From that moment on, St. Louis scored four more goals. Ottawa scored one.
The final score shows how fast a game can slip away.
The lesson is simple. In hockey, a two-goal lead late in the second period is a strong place to be. A one-goal lead is fragile.
The Blues knew that. They got the third goal fast. Then they kept scoring until the game was over.
Read more: Golden Knights beat Predators 5-2 as Karlsson scores go-ahead goal. Also see Alex DeBrincat agrees to seven-year 91 million dollar extension with Red Wings. Related: Frozen Frenzy packs 32 NHL teams into one wild night and our Senators-Devils game coverage.
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