Jake Neighbours scored twice as the visiting St. Louis Blues held off the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Saturday night.
Joel Hofer made 41 saves and the Blues killed off six penalties while snapping a two-game losing streak.
Blues winger Jordan Kyrou suffered a left leg injury in the first period and did not return.
Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Senators, who lost for the fourth time overall — and for the second time to the Blues — in their last five games.
Linus Ullmark made 18 saves in defeat.
The Senators had four power-play opportunities during the first period and outshot the Blues 15-2 overall in the first 20 minutes. But Hofer stood tall to keep the game scoreless.
Neighbours tested Ullmark with a rush shot on the game’s first shift, then St. Louis didn’t put another shot on goal for 19 minutes.
The Blues killed off a double-minor penalty, but the Senators sustained pressure.
St. Louis killed two more penalties, then another one in the second period. Hofer kept the game scoreless by denying David Perron’s slot shot and Claude Giroux’s 2-on-1 opportunity.
Blues finally generated offense later in the second period. Dylan Holloway hit the post on a power play, then Schenn hit the post as the advantage expired. But Neighbours batted in the rebound to put the Blues up 1-0.
Just 12 seconds into the third period, Neighbours made it 2-0 by converting Pavel Buchnevich’s diagonal pass to the left point.
The Senators finally broke through on their seventh power play. Giroux fired a shot toward the goal and Zetterlund banged in the rebound to cut the lead to 2-1.
Ullmark started off the ice for an extra attacker, then dove back to stop Thomas’ shot. Thomas, Oskar Sundqvist and Hofer all shot wide of the empty net as the game went to the wire.
–Field Level Media
