Blues defeat Senators in 1st game under Bannister, end 4-game skid

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues won their first game under coach Drew Bannister, 4-2 against the Ottawa Senators at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

Bannister replaced Craig Berube, who was fired Tuesday after a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Blues’ fourth straight defeat.

"It's not about me," Bannister said. "It's never going to be about me. It's about the group of players out there. When I look at the game, I'm proud of the way we played. This group has gone through a lot in the last 48 hours. It wasn't perfect, but they responded well here tonight." 

Robert Thomas had two goals and an assist, Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist, Justin Faulk had two assists and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves for the Blues (14-14-1), who were outscored 20-10 in their previous four games.

"It was a great game by everyone," Thomas said. "We came together as a team, everyone pulled their weight. Everyone did a great job from start to finish. ... The whole game I thought we played great. Kudos to everyone.

"I think we had each other's backs out there. You can see it on the ice. Mistakes happen all the time, but we were there for one another, we killed plays, we had each other's backs. It was a fun brand of hockey to play, and we're excited in the direction we're going."

Dominik Kubalik scored, and Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves for the Senators (11-13-0), who have lost three of four.

"Obviously, they came out real hard," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said of St. Louis. "We turned over two or three in the first period that allowed them to have a lot of zone time, gain momentum, and they came out way sharper than we did. We should know that they're going to come out sharp, obviously [losing] four in a row and the coaching change. So, we've got to be better than that. And then the second period, just a couple of really bad coverages, and it's in the back of the net.”

Thomas gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 8:20 of the first period when he went in alone on Korpisalo after taking a pass through the middle from Faulk, fended off Artem Zub and scored between the pads.

Thomas made it 2-0 at 5:17 of the second period, collecting Faulk's wrist shot from the blue line and scoring from the slot with a backhand shot.

Brandon Saad made it 3-0 at 8:42, finishing a one-timer after Nick Leddy outwaited Zub's sliding attempt before finding Saad alone near the right side of the net.

Buchnevich made it 4-1 Blues at 7:07 of the third period, finishing off Jordan Kyrou's pass from the slot off a give-and-go.

"I thought we were really solid, playing aggressive on the puck, playing fast, playing together," Kyrou said of the line with Buchnevich and Thomas. "We were really supporting each other. That's the way we want to play."

Mathieu Joseph tipped in a Jakob Chychrun shot from the left point at 18:26 for the 4-2 final. The goal was confirmed after video review for a high-stick.

"I think we didn't have our normal jump, I would say," Joseph said. "I feel like we didn't have legs and we’re a fast team and I feel like we weren't using our speed the right way tonight. And 'Korpy' kept us in the game, especially in the first period, and he made some big saves for us. And I feel like it's hard to go on the road and we've got to be ready to play three periods."

NOTES: Thomas has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games. ... Ottawa forward Claude Giroux's four-game point streak ended; he had three goals and three assists during the streak. ... Blues forward Mackenzie MacEachern played 8:48 and had four hits in his season debut; he was recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. ... Senators forward Mark Kastelic played 7:50 and had two shots on goal in his first game since Nov. 2 after returning from a high ankle sprain; he missed 14 games.