St. Louis Blues at Ottawa Senators
· National Hockey LeagueBlues beat Senators 5-2 for 5th win in 6 games in fight for final wild-card spot
The Blues moved a point ahead of Minnesota and within two points of Vegas, with the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights holding the final spot.
Hofer was outstanding in the first period, making a behind-the-back save on Jakob Chychrun and another big save on Brady Tkachuk. The 23-year-old goalie admitted he exchanged a few words with Tkachuk that probably didn’t sit well with the Ottawa captain.
“I love playing the game,” Hofer said. “So, these are obviously fun games and especially games where you get a lot of shots and a lot of high chances it’s always fun making, you know, big saves for the team.”
Ottawa interim coach Jacques Martin said Hofer was the difference in the game.
“There’s no doubt when you look at the number of chances we had,” Martin said. "I think it was 22-12 in our favor.”
Jordan Kyrou had a goal and two assists, and Brandon Saad and Colton Parayko also scored.
“Every game for us is important right now,” Saad said. “For us it’s just focusing on one night at a time and any time we can win and kind of gain points it gives us a good feeling in here and it’s been fun as of late.”
Mark Kastelic and Dominik Kubalik scored for Ottawa, and Anton Forsberg stopped 22 shots. The Senators have lost three straight.
After Kubalik pulled Ottawa to 3-2 on a power play 1:58 into the third period, Kyrou took a pass in front, spun and roofed a shot for his third point of the night at 5:43. Neighbours added an empty-netter.
“The one in the third was big I thought,” Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. “To be able to come back after that power-play goal. They come back a couple minutes later and score and that was a big response from our group to kind of settle things down on the bench.”
St. Louis center Zach Dean made his NHL debut, replacing the injured Oskar Sundqvist. Dean played junior hockey for the nearby Gatineau Olympiques.
UP NEXT
Blues: At Minnesota on Saturday.
Senators: At New Jersey on Saturday night.
Regular Season SeriesSTL wins series 2-0
Scoring Summary
Goal | 1st Period 11:54 | Brandon Saad Goal (21) Snap Shot, assists: Jordan Kyrou (30), Matthew Kessel (4) | |
Goal | 1st Period 14:57 | Colton Parayko Goal (10) Snap Shot, assists: Jordan Kyrou (31), Brandon Saad (13) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 4:34 | Mark Kastelic Goal (4) Snap Shot, assists: Mathieu Joseph (22) | |
Goal | 2nd Period 13:11 | Jake Neighbours Goal (23) Snap Shot, assists: none | |
Goal | 3rd Period 1:58 | Dominik Kubalik Goal (11) Wrist Shot, assists: Shane Pinto (14), Claude Giroux (39) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 5:43 | Jordan Kyrou Goal (22) Wrist Shot, assists: Alexey Toropchenko (5), Pavel Buchnevich (29) | |
Goal | 3rd Period 18:32 | Jake Neighbours Goal (24) Wrist Shot, assists: none |
Statistics
STL | OTT | |
---|---|---|
16 | Blocked Shots | 8 |
22 | Hits | 22 |
6 | Takeaways | 8 |
27 | Shots | 39 |
0 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
2 | Power Play Opportunities | 3 |
0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 33.3 |
0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
24 | Faceoffs Won | 27 |
47.1 | Faceoff Win Percent | 52.9 |
11 | Giveaways | 15 |
3 | Total Penalties | 2 |
6 | Penalty Minutes | 4 |
Game Information
Location: Ottawa, ON
Attendance: 16,040 | Capacity:
Location: Ottawa, ON
Attendance: 16,040 | Capacity:
2023-24 Central Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dallas | 52 | 21 | 113 | 9 |
Winnipeg | 52 | 24 | 110 | 6 |
Colorado | 50 | 25 | 107 | 7 |
Nashville | 47 | 30 | 99 | 5 |
St. Louis | 43 | 33 | 92 | 6 |
Minnesota | 39 | 33 | 87 | 10 |
Arizona | 36 | 41 | 77 | 5 |
Chicago | 23 | 53 | 52 | 6 |
2023-24 Atlantic Division Standings
TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Florida | 52 | 24 | 110 | 6 |
Boston | 47 | 20 | 109 | 15 |
Toronto | 46 | 26 | 102 | 10 |
Tampa Bay | 45 | 29 | 98 | 8 |
Detroit | 41 | 32 | 91 | 9 |
Buffalo | 39 | 37 | 84 | 6 |
Ottawa | 37 | 41 | 78 | 4 |
Montreal | 30 | 36 | 76 | 16 |