Tarasenko has two goals, assist to help Blues defeat Senators

OTTAWA --Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assist for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

"He's all over the ice," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. "He's playing the right way defensively. He's in on the forecheck, he's always open. [Tarasenko's] a superstar, and when he plays like that, it's tough for teams to defend."
Ville Husso made 18 saves, and the line of Tarasenko, Thomas (goal, two assists) and Pavel Buchnevich (three assists) combined for nine points for St. Louis (28-14-5).
"The Thomas line was excellent tonight," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "Puck possession was excellent; they were strong on it. They competed on the puck, they kept it and hung on to it. It's not always open space, they had to compete for it at times and they were strong."

Tim Stutzle and Parker Kelly scored for Ottawa (17-25-4), which has lost three of four.
Matt Murray made 27 saves on 31 shots before leaving in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Anton Forsberg made four saves.
"The way they play in the [offensive] zone, they don't throw pucks away, they hold on, they grind you," Senators coach D.J. Smith said of the Blues. "I mean, we do have lots of guys out, but that's what we want to be, that's what you want to look for. Two years ago, they won the Stanley Cup playing that exact style, and that's what you want to do. You want to be able to wear people down."
Brayden Schenn gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 13:20 of the first period after finding the puck in the left face-off circle and scoring with a wrist shot into the top left corner.
Stutzle tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 16:27 off the rush. He went around Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo before tucking a backhand around Husso's left pad to end a six-game goal drought.
Tarasenko made it 2-1 at 2:15 of the second period with a wrist shot from the top of the slot on the power play.
Thomas extended the lead to 3-1 at 5:34, finishing a tic-tac-toe play with Tarasenko and Buchnevich.
"We've played before together and we've had some success," Tarasenko said. "We just try to play hockey and enjoy our time on the ice. I think this is always very important when you're working hard and creating some chances. I thought we played well today, but I'm pretty sure we can play better."

Kelly cut it to 3-2 at 6:53 with a tip-in of Erik Brannstrom's point shot for his first goal since Nov. 13.
Ottawa had a chance to tie the game on a 5-on-3 for 1:14 in the third period but Stutzle hit the post, and Bortuzzo blocked a shot.
"Everybody played desperate, especially, I want to mention Robert Bortuzzo," Tarasenko said. "It's unreal when you see a guy try to block a shot with every part of his body. It's a huge credit to those guys. They might not share some spotlights in the media, but inside the team, we know. It's insane, and it makes us proud of our teammates and makes us work hard."
Oskar Sundqvist made it 4-2 at 10:00 before falling over Murray in the crease. The goalie left the game 49 seconds later.
Tarasenko scored into an empty net at 17:49 for the 5-2 final.
"I think it's good for us to play a team like that to see what it takes," Senators defenseman Josh Brown said. "They're a good team, so yeah, it's a bit of a reality check. It's great to play teams like that. I think that's the next step for us as a younger group. We get to see how playing down low, cycling, and just hitting guys all over the ice, how that really pays off."
NOTES:Smith did not have an update on Murray after the game. … Schenn has scored eight points (four goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak. … Blues general manager Doug Armstrong got his 500th win as an NHL GM. … Ottawa forward Zach Sanford had one hit and one blocked shot in 15:26 of ice time in his first game against his former team. Sanford scored 71 points (36 goals, 35 assists) in 183 games for St. Louis and won the 2019 Stanley Cup. … The Senators were without forwards Josh Norris (shoulder), Drake Batherson (ankle), Colin White (shoulder) and Shane Pinto (upper body), and defenseman Thomas Chabot (undisclosed). … Senators forward Clark Bishop had an assist on Kelly's goal for his first point of the season in nine games. … Blues defenseman Justin Faulk had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists).