Preview: Blues at Senators

When: Thursday, March 21 at 6 p.m. CT
Where: Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON
Watch: Bally Sports, Bally Sports app
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues' win streak was snapped by the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.

While they kept the game close, the Blues made a few costly mistakes, which Colorado - namely Mikko Rantanen, who had a hat trick - took advantage of every time.

"When you make mistakes, those guys - there's a reason they have as many points as they do. They capitalize," Blues Captain Brayden Schenn said postgame.

Despite the loss, the Blues are still optimistic about their play. They got a healthy contribution from the fourth line, with goals from Nathan Walker and Alexey Toropchenko.

"I thought we generated a lot of offense here (Tuesday) against a good team that plays fast...The chances were there for us," Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister said. "Certainly we'd like to see us cash in on a couple of those extra chances that we had, but offensively I thought our guys played well here."

While the Blues (36-30-3) lost Tuesday, so did the Golden Knights. Therefore, the final Wild Card spot is still four points away, with the Wild just one point ahead of the Blues. After Ottawa, the Blues play both Minnesota (March 23) and Vegas (March 25), so they'll need to pick up all the points they can before two games with massive playoff implications.

SENATORS The Ottawa Senators are coming off a lopsided loss to the Boston Bruins at home. Despite only trailing 3-2 after the second period, Ottawa let up three unanswered goals in the third, resulting in a 6-2 win for Boston.

"We played well for two periods," Shane Pinto said after the game, "and then I don't know what happened in the third. We just didn't stay consistent, and it just kind of got away from us."

Tuesday was the second game in a row where the Sens trailed by one through 40 minutes before its opponent blew the game wide open in the third period. Sunday, Carolina scored four times unanswered in the final frame for a 7-2 win.

"The difference at the end of the day is [Boston] played a perfect game in both ways up the ice, and we didn't. We gave them scoring chances, and when you play good teams like that, they're going to find the back of the net."

The Senators (28-35-4) have had a frustrating year. Despite entering the season with playoff hopes, they currently hold the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. They changed coaches mid-season and parted ways with Vladimir Tarasenko at the Trade Deadline.

After Thursday's game, Ottawa gets one day of rest before back-to-back games with New Jersey and Edmonton over the weekend.

HEAD TO HEAD This is the second and final matchup between the Blues and Sens this season. The Blues won the first meeting on Dec. 14, 4-2, which was also Drew Bannister's first game as Head Coach.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Jake Neighbours, who had one assist Tuesday, may be a Tkachuk at heart. Lately, he's been compared to Blues Hall of Famer Keith Tkachuk for his scoring prowess around the net. When he was drafted in 2020, Neighbours said he models his game after Matthew Tkachuk. He's played like it, too; Neighbours is one of four players under 25 to deflect at least 25 shots on goal this season. He joins that list with Alexis Lafrenière, Quinton Byfield and...

SENATORS ...Brady Tkachuk. The St. Louis native scored his 31st goal of the season Tuesday, a team high. Tkachuk also leads the Sens with 57 points in 66 games.

BLUE NOTES

• In their last 20 games against Ottawa, since Nov. 19, 2010, the Blues are 12-4-4.
• The Blues are 2-1-0 in their last three trips to Ottawa and have earned points in eight of their last 10 games in Ottawa (7-2-1).
• The Blues are 28-4-1 this season when they score at least three goals in a game (excluding shootout goals). Meanwhile, since March 1, the Senators average the third-fewest goals per game in the NHL (2.20).
• Neighbours currently has a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists), which is one shy of matching his career-high five-game point streak, which he did earlier this season (five goals, one assist from Nov. 18-26).
• Zach Dean is expected to make his Blues debut Thursday. Dean, who the Blues acquired via trade on Feb. 26, 2023, played junior hockey in Gatineau, Quebec, which is just across the river from Ottawa. In four seasons with the Gatineau Olympiques, Dean posted 188 points (82 goals, 106 assists) in 177 games.