Blues blow past Senators
OTTAWA -- The St. Louis Blues posted their second shutout in 24 hours by blanking the Ottawa Senators 6-0 at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday night.
Jake Allen made 30 saves for his second goose egg of the season and 13th of his career.
Vladimir Tarasenko led the way for the Blues with two goals, while Ivan Barbashev, Alex Steen, Patrik Berglund and Magnus Paajarvi scored the others.
The Blues defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 on Monday.
Andrew Hammond, making his first start since Dec. 18 and just his third of the season, stopped 24 shots in the Senators net.
Despite playing the night before in Philadelphia, the Blues outshot the Senators 13-5 in the scoreless first period.
Playing in his first NHL game since Oct. 18, Paajarvi put the visitors on the board with his second of the season at 1:51 of the middle period, busting around Senators winger Zack Smith and flipping a shot over Hammond's left shoulder on the short side.
Tarasenko increased the lead to 2-0 at 6:64 of the second, making no mistake with an open side staring him in the face after taking a pass from Paul Stastny. It was the 24th of the season for Tarasenko.
The Senators outshot the Blues 11-7 in the middle period, but six of their shots came during one power play.
The Blues went up 3-0 with a man-advantage chance of their own when Hammond kicked out a juicy rebound after making a stop off Kenny Agostino. Berglund was the benefactor, swiping home a shot for his 13th of the season at 1:46 of the third.
Steen converted his own rebound for his 11th on a setup from Stastny at 10:43, again while Hammond was left defenseless.
Steen passed to Tarasenko for his second of the night, a shot from the slot that handcuffed Hammond at 13:49 to make it 5-0.
A blind backhand pass by Erik Karlsson from behind his own net wound up on the stick of Barbashev, who quickly fired it past Hammond at 15:01 to complete the scoring.
NOTES: Senators RW Curtis Lazar was scratched for the second time in four games as RW Chris Neil came out of the press box to replace him. ... Senators D Fredrik Claesson was scratched for the third consecutive game at 18th time this season. ... Blues RW Nail Yakupov was scratched for the second consecutive game and 23rd time this season. ... Blues D Carl Gunnarsson was scratched for the 14th time this season. ... Blues RW Dmitrij Jaskin was scratched for the 14th time this season.