Blues use big period to top Senators

OTTAWA --The St. Louis Blues scored three straight goals in the second period in a 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Brayden Schenn and Alexander Steen each had a goal and an assist, and Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo scored for the Blues (28-17-3), who have won two in a row following a three-game losing streak (0-2-1).

Carter Hutton made 20 saves for St. Louis and is 5-0-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in his past six starts.
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Senators highlights]
"There was a lot to like about this game," coach Mike Yeo said. "When we describe what Blues hockey would be, that would be a pretty good example of it right there. Coming in waves, we've got everybody going, our D were active, they were involved in the play offensively. They really led the charge with our execution tonight."
Bobby Ryan scored, and Craig Anderson made 33 saves for the Senators (15-19-9), who lost for the second time in five games (3-2-0).
Tarasenko gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 6:13 of the second when he tipped a shot by defenseman Robert Bortozzo for his 20th goal. He has scored 20 or more in five straight NHL seasons.

Pietrangelo made it 2-0 at 12:51 when he scored into the open side of the net after Anderson swatted a rebound to him in the right face-off circle.
"I think we felt it coming, someone on the back end was going to score," Pietrangelo said. "Five-on-5, we've really been jumping in the last two games here. It was just a matter of time before one of us got one."
Schenn scored to make it 3-0 at 16:53 when he put a shot between Anderson's pads.
Ryan scored with a shot from the point that changed direction off Blues forward Dmitrij Jaskin's stick and went into the corner on Hutton's glove side at 17:21 to get the Senators within 3-1.
Pietrangelo said the Blues wanted to take advantage of the Senators coming off a six-day break. The Blues defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime Tuesday in their first game after their break.
"They came off the bye week too, and if they felt like we did in the first period like we did against Toronto, we knew it was going to be hard on them," Pietrangelo said. "We got to them early and put the pressure on them."

The Senators have been outscored 65-36 in the second period. Their second-period goal differential is the worst in the NHL (minus-29), and the 65 goals-against are second-most in the League behind the New York Islanders (66).
"The second period, it's a disease," Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. "We stopped shooting. We start to get perimeter play. We get east-west play, complicated plays. When you don't shoot, when you don't have a shooter's mentality, you can't create momentum and you create those turnovers that give the opponent their rushes, and they shoot, they get momentum in your zone, you start taking penalties and lose momentum, and you get the second period that we got.
"It's a disease that we have to get rid of."
Steen scored into the empty net at 18:22 of the third period to make it 4-1.

Goal of the game

Schenn's goal at 16:53 of the second period.

Save of the game

Hutton stopping Mark Stone's shot through a screen at 15:43 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Tarasenko's goal at 6:13 of the second period.

They said it

"One, it's on your birthday, but two, it's finally nice to get back on the board about 4,000 shots later." -- Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo on scoring his eighth goal of the season, first in 27 games, on his 28th birthday
"It's just one those things where once you lose the momentum, it's tough to get it back. They had the momentum in the second period, and we just weren't able to get it back. They came out pushing strong in the second period. Give them some credit." -- Senators goaltender Craig Anderson

Need to know

The Blues have 13 road wins, tied with the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings for second-most in the NHL behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (14). … The Senators penalty for too many men on the ice in the first period was their 11th bench minor of the season, the most in the League. … Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson led all skaters with 29:22 of ice time.

What's next

Blues: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, CITY, TVA Sports 2, NHL.TV)