Stone, Hoffman lead Sens past Blues
ST. LOUIS -- Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman each scored two goals to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 6-4 win Tuesday night over the St. Louis Blues.
Stone's unassisted goal, his 14th of the season, came after a turnover by the Blues' Jaden Schwartz at 2:35 of the period and broke a 3-3 tie.
Hoffman followed with his second goal of the game at 13:53 for the two-goal margin before Stone scored into an empty net. Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues with 48 seconds left to cut the final score to 6-4.
The Blues rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game just 1:35 into the third period with a power-play goal by Alexander Steen, only his third of the season not into an empty-net. He finished serving a minor penalty that carried over from the end of the second period and scored just seven seconds after coming onto the ice.
Hoffman and Bobby Ryan had given the Senators the 3-1 lead with goals just 1:25 apart in the second period.
The Senators went on a power-play midway through the second period because of a slashing penalty on Paul Stastny and Mike Hoffman capitalized on the man advantage, scoring his 13th goal of the year at 13:26 to break a 1-1 tie.
Ryan increased the lead to 3-1 at 14:51 when he poked a rebound past goaltender Carter Hutton, who thought he had the puck frozen against the post. The goal was the 18th of his career in 25 games against the Blues, his most against any team.
Kevin Shattenkirk scored with only 46 seconds left in the period to pull the Blues within 3-2 entering the third period.
The two teams traded goals in the opening period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau gave Ottawa the early lead at 3:03 -- the seventh consecutive home game in which the Blues allowed the first goal -- before Stastny tied it off a deflection of a shot by Jay Bouwmeester at 9:34.
NOTES: D Brad Hunt was claimed by Nashville on Tuesday, the second player the Blues have lost through a waiver claim this month. Hunt had to clear waivers before St. Louis could return him to its American Hockey League affiliate. Hunt had one goal and three assists in nine games for the Blues. Earlier, St. Louis lost RW Ty Rattie to Carolina. ... Blues LW Scottie Upshall was made a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. ... The Senators had hoped LW Clarke MacArthur would be able to join them on their current three-game trip, but he was left in Ottawa for more tests as he tries to recover from post-concussion syndrome. MacArthur has yet to play this season. ... The Senators play at Columbus on Thursday night while the Blues will host the Washington Capitals.