Mark Stone sparks Senators past Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Mark Stone scored twice, including a tie-breaking goal early in the third period, to help the Ottawa Senators to a 6-4 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Tuesday.
The Blues overcame a two-goal deficit and tied it 3-3 when Alexander Steen scored 1:35 into the third, but a Jaden Schwartz turnover enabled the Senators to regain the lead on Stone's goal one minute later when his shot from the slot got past goalie Carter Hutton.

WATCH: All Senators vs. Blues highlights
"It was a good bounce for me, of course," said Stone, who scored an empty-net goal with 1:13 remaining. "Especially after a shift after they scored. We put on some good pressure and got a few chances. When you pressure any team, obviously there are going to be loose pucks and I got it there and fired it in."

The Blues had a chance, according to coach Ken Hitchcock to clear the puck out of their zone three times, but Schwartz's turnover proved costly.
"The fourth goal was a killer; it was a killer," Hitchcock said. "Had puck support there, left it, didn't clear it, had it on our stick three times. Forwards left the winger, turn it over and that's the game."
Mike Hoffman scored twice, Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and an assist and Bobby Ryan scored for the Senators (23-15-4), who opened a three-game road trip. Mike Condon made 19 saves.
"We gave them less than 25 shots in their building, so I think anytime you do that as a team, you're doing something good," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "I think we've asked our players to improve since Christmas at driving the net and paying the price around the net, and we certainly did that with the goals that we had."
Steen and Kevin Shattenkirk each scored a goal and assist, and Paul Stastny and Patrik Berglund scored for St. Louis (23-17-5). Hutton made 18 saves.
"We have the momentum and it's just a tough game because I think when we look back on it and we wake up tomorrow, we're going to feel like we had it," Shattenkirk said. "We played a pretty good game, and again just some mistakes that bite us."

The Senators took a 1-0 lead on Pageau's goal at 3:03 of the first period, the seventh straight home game in which the Blues have allowed the first goal.
St. Louis tied it when Stastny redirected Jay Bouwmeester's shot past Condon four seconds after a Blues power play at 9:34 of the first period.
Hoffman's power-play goal at 13:26 gave the Senators a 2-1 lead, and Ryan made it 3-1 at 14:51.
Shattenkirk scored with 45.6 seconds left in the second period to make it 3-2.
Hoffman's second of the game at 13:53 of the third made it 5-3.
Berglund scored with 47.6 seconds left to make it 6-4.

Goal of the game

Hoffman's second goal put the game away for the Senators and came off a slick behind-the-net pass to the high slot from Pageau and a quick one-time snap shot from Hoffman.

Save of the game

Condon made a crucial save against Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko from the left circle with 2:30 remaining in the second period to preserve the Senators' 3-1 lead.

Highlight of the game

The Blues' third goal came as a result of patience by Shattenkirk, who recognized Steen was coming on the ice from the penalty box before patiently finding him in the slot to help make it 3-3.

Unsung performance of the game

Senators center Kyle Turris played 18:08, had three shots, blocked two and won 12 of 19 faceoffs. He also had two assists.

They said it

"They have a good home ice record usually so when we come here, we know we're in for a battle and it's an opportunity that we love." -- Senators right wing Mark Stone

Need to know

Ryan has 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 25 games against St. Louis. … Pageau has four goals in four games against the Blues. ... Berglund, who played in his 600th NHL regular-season game, has 10 goals in 15 games after starting the season with one in 30. ... Stastny has four goals and three assists the past seven games.

What's next

Senators: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, RDS, TSN5, NHL.TV)
Blues: Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SN, FS-MW, CSN-DC, NHL.TV)