BLUES The defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues have points in three straight games to begin the 2019-20 regular season (2-0-1) and will look to extend that streak on Thursday when they meet the Ottawa Senators.
The Blues traded second-period goals with the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last game, but it was Alex Pietrangelo's third-period goal that was the difference in a 3-2 win. Pietrangelo's goal was the 23rd game-winner of his career, moving him past Al MacInnis (22) for first on the Blues' all-time list amongst defensemen, and the 400th point of his NHL career.
The win was the Blues' seventh straight against the Maple Leafs.
"We play well when we come here; it's a fun place to play, right?" Pietrangelo told reporters after the game. "There's a lot of energy in the crowd, a lot of energy coming in. It's always fun getting a win here. Carl Gunnarsson played here, Alexander Steen, Tyler Bozak. There's a lot of connections here and a lot of people have friends and family here, so it's a fun place to play."
"The boys have been battling through all three games we've played so far, and that was another comeback victory," Jordan Binnington added. "That's a good hockey team over there, so it felt good to get the win."
SENATORS Brady Tkachuk scored and Craig Anderson made 26 saves for Ottawa on Saturday, but a hat trick from the New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad handed the Senators their second consecutive loss in a 4-1 defeat.
Ottawa is 0-2 on the season and has allowed nine goals in their first two games. They will have had four days between games when they meet the Blues on Thursday night.
The Senators did make a trade Monday, acquiring Vladislav Namestnikov in a trade with the Rangers, sending defenseman Nick Ebert and a fourth-round pick in 2021 to New York. Namestnikov has 66 goals and 92 assists (158 points) in 362 career NHL games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues and Senators meet Thursday for the first of two meetings this season. The second won't be played until March 15 in St. Louis.
Ottawa won the last meeting between the teams 2-0 on March 14 last season, but the Blues had won the four previous games before that. The Blues have points in six of their last seven games in Ottawa (5-1-1) and 12 of their last 14 meetings overall (8-2-4).
In the last five matchups with the Senators, the Blues haven't given up a power-play goal, killing 11 man-advantage opportunities from the Senators.
Brady Tkachuk, son of former Blue Keith Tkachuk leads the Senators with two goals this season.
