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OTT PG9 v St. Louis Blues - Sensational Home Return |
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The Ottawa Senators returned home and checked themselves into the winning column with a dominating 8-1 effort over the St. Louis Blues. This win moves Ottawa from last to fourth in the division for points and winning percentage, to be behind the Toronto Maple Leafs with one game in hand to the provincial rivals.
There were seven unanswered goals by the home team and a goalie switch for the visiting squad. Ottawa had five different goal scorers, with three of the five scoring twice.
Period I
Ottawa got the scoring started early with the first coming 64 seconds into the game off a Josh Norris backhander. The former Sharks’ first rounder’s fourth goal of the season was supported by my Sens’ player to watch, Claude Giroux, and linemate Drake Batherson.
Noah Gregor extended the lead for the home team two and a half minutes later for his second as Sen. Mike Amadio got his first point as a Senator with the primary assist. Zach Ostapchuk got his first career NHL point with the secondary assist in his eighth career NHL game.
Tim Stützle bested the Blues goalkeeper with a late period snap shot for his fourth goal of the season unassisted. Get ready to see his name pop up in more debates if he was the best pick from 2020.
Period II
The Senators’ powerplay got on a roll in the middle frame with back to back Brady Tkachuk goals.
The first one came before the halfway mark of the period for his fifth of the campaign with the helpers going to Batherson and Stützle.
At 11:08, Tkachuk’s second of the night and sixth of the season was from Jake Sanderson and Stützle.
Adam Gaudette got his third back in Sens’ uniform 42 seconds after the second Tkachuk goal from Nick Cousins.
Period III
Stützle’s second of the evening was helped by Thomas Chabot and Giroux.
Dylan Holloway broke the home team’s shutout efforts halfway through the third period for his fourth as a Blue. The power play goal was assisted by Alexandre Texier for his second assist with the Blues. Phillip Broberg, Holloway’s teammate in Edmonton, had the secondary assist for his sixth apple with the new team.
Gaudette got his second of the game and fourth of the season with Ottawa to light the lamp for the final time of the evening.
Goaltenders
Joel Hofer allowed 5 goals on 21 shots as the starter. His three game winning streak came to an end. 0.762 save percentage.
Jordan Binnington allowed 3 goals on 14 shots faced for a 0.786 save percentage.
Linus Ullmark stopped all but one of the 27 visitor shots for a 0.963 save percentage. Good goaltending goes a long way.
Players to Watch
Jordan Kyrou was a -2 in 16:41TOI.
Claude Giroux had a primary assist in the opening goal and a secondary assist on the second Stützle goal. 11 points on a 7 game point streak. 2 shots on goal and a 76% in the faceoff dot.
Great night for the Sens’ core and an even better one for the home crowd after 10 days of silence at the CTC.
OTT Three Stars of the Game
1. Tim Stützle — 2 goals (5), 2 assists (9)
2. Brady Tkachuk — 2 PPGs (6)
3. Adam Gaudette — 2 goals (4)
This concludes the Senators’ games for the month of October. Busy first month with 9 games going 5-4-0. More on this tomorrow.
Ottawa is not a poverty franchise. The new Sportico ranking valuation has them at 29th of the 32 clubs, a decrease from 2023 at 27. Considering they just got new ownership and are moving closer to the city, this is under minding the franchise as a whole. Great news to see all the clubs are now worth over $1B Billion dollars.
Logistically and for lack of winning purposes, I can see why they would be low, but as a Canadian franchise, they should be a lot higher. And for being in the nation’s captiol, not a lot of high praise for this ranking.
Next game: Friday November 1st, the Senators head to the garden to take on the defending Presidents Trophy winners. The New York Rangers and former Mika Zibanejad welcome Ottawa in their first meeting of three; first of two at the Garden.
Full month of me covering Ottawa coming up here on Hockeybuzz! More to come…
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