The St. Louis Blues (19-17-4) defeated the Ottawa Senators (19-17-2) by a score of 4-0. Goals coming from Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad, who had a hat-trick, led the way for the Blues offensively while Jordan Binnington made all 20 stops for his third shutout of the season.
After the last showing between these two teams, where the Senators won 8-1, the Blues took advantage of this game and earned themselves two points in the standings, moving closer to a playoff spot.
Schenn opened the scoring with a goal close to the mid-way point of the first period, with the lone assist coming from Dylan Holloway. A tough offensive zone turnover from Thomas Chabot was gathered by Holloway, and he sprung Schenn between the Senators’ defenders to break free for a breakaway chance and beat Anton Forsberg.
Later in the first period, Senators defenseman Nick Jensen bobbled a pass and was out-paced by Saad, who ended up scoring the Blues’ second breakaway goal of the period.
With just over five minutes to go in the second period, Saad would get his second goal of the night after a strong entry by the Blues, with assists coming from Pavel Buchnevich and Robert Thomas. Chabot would get the Senators on the board in the middle frame, but after a coach’s challenge, it was deemed offside and the goal was called back.
The third period got chippy between the two teams, with some jabs, crosschecks, and late hits, but throughout the game, only two minor penalties were called, and neither team capitalized on the man advantage.
Saad would cap off his third career hat-trick, and first in over seven years, with a two-on-one opportunity where Saad carries the puck from end-to-end after a strong chance from Chabot. Despite having another player open, Saad would shoot and score to make the game 4-0 with under two minutes to go.
Saad broke a 19-game goal-less drought, having not scored a goal since the Blues’ Nov. 14 game against the Buffalo Sabres in a 4-3 overtime loss.
The Senators will finish off their nine-game road trip in Detroit as they take on the Red Wings on Jan. 7, while the Blues are back in action tomorrow, Jan. 4, as they hit the road to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets.
