3 Takeaways From Blues’ 7-2 Win Over Senators

The St. Louis Blues faced the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, looking for a second straight win. Pius Suter, Mason McTavish, and Jake Neighbors scored three goals as the Blues cruised to a 7-2 win. Joel Hofer made 15 saves while Adam Jiricek scored his first NHL goal.

Let’s look at some takeaways from an all-around great Blues game.

Takeaway #1: Taking Advantage of Tired Senators

The Senators are off to a strong start this season, but the Blues were playing them at the right time. The Senators played Monday and beat the Philadelphia Flyers. However, this meant the Blues would face a likely tired opponent. Furthermore, Samuel Ersson started at net instead of Linus Ullmark.

Still, none of this would have mattered if the Blues hadn’t shown up prepared to compete. They dominated the entire game. They held a team scoring at least three goals in five of six games to just 17 shots. They scored in a variety of ways, including a shorthanded goal, a power-play goal, and a shot from a weird angle that went in off of Ersson.

The Blues had a chance to make a statement win on Tuesday. They took care of business and certainly made a statement.

Takeaway #2: Peterson Impressed

Dylan Peterson looked comfortable in his NHL debut. He played just under nine minutes, recorded four hits, and even got into his first fight. The California native picked up where he left off in the preseason. He threw his body around and made his presence known on the ice.

He also showcased his strong forechecking. In the third period, Peterson’s forechecking forced a loose puck that Ross Johnston picked up. Johnston fired a shot on net that was stopped, but Suter promptly put in the rebound. The goal opened the game up a bit, giving the Blues some breathing room.

With Head Coach Jim Montgomery likely to rotate Zachary Dean into the lineup moving forward, it’s hard to justify removing Peterson at this time. While it is just one game, it continues what we saw in the preseason.

Takeaway #3: Stealing Momentum

Momentum can change in the blink of an eye. The Blues flipped momentum multiple times.

The first game on the game’s opening goal. The Senators have a top-10 power play early in the season. The Blues, on the other hand, have a bottom-10 penalty kill. When the Senators went on the power play in the first period, it gave them the chance to get the first goal and an early lead.

However, the Blues flipped the momentum. Suter, playing aggressively, took a pass from Colton Parayko and found himself on a breakaway, scoring a shorthanded goal. Instead of trailing, the Blues took the lead.

In the second period, Claude Giroux scored to cut the lead to 2-1. It was a late-period goal, which could have given the Senators a second wind as the game entered the final period. However, McTavish flipped the momentum once again, scoring just 33 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead.

Lastly, the Senators pressed the offensive zone in the third period for Suter’s second goal of the game. The Senators had their opportunities, but the Blues said no.

Stick Taps

I am giving a stick tap to Pavel Buchnevich. The forward easily played his best game of the season. He recorded three assists and finished as a plus-2 on the night. His best moment came in the third period, when he made a perfect pass to Neighbors, who one-timed the puck into the net for a 5-1 lead.

Buchnevich is coming off a rough season, but he still managed to score 20 goals. That shows his offensive potential is still there, and we certainly saw that Tuesday. It will be interesting to see how the Russian builds off this success in the next game.

Next Game

The Blues continue their road trip Thursday, facing the Minnesota Wild for the first time this season. The Hockey Writers will provide a preview and takeaways for the Central Division showdown, so be sure to check back with us.