The Senators’ hot start hit a wall Tuesday night, and the St. Louis Blues made sure it stayed there. Ottawa’s three-game winning streak ended in a lopsided 7-2 loss at Canadian Tire Centre, where just 14,086 watched a rough night unravel in real time.
Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund were the only Senators able to solve Joel Hofer, while Ottawa mustered just 17 shots on goal. Samuel Ersson, making his first home start with the club after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in the off-season, gave up seven goals on 26 shots. With the Senators choosing not to start Linus Ullmark in back-to-back games with travel, Ersson got the assignment - and the result wasn’t good enough.
Ottawa slipped to 5-2-0, a record that still reflects a strong opening stretch, but Tuesday was a reminder of how quickly the NHL can pull a team back down. This was the Senators’ third game in four nights, and after a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, the group looked like it was running on fumes at times.
The third period especially turned into a long slog for Ottawa. The Senators spent most of it chasing the game while the Blues controlled the pace and closed things out without much trouble.
There was a brief flash of hope when Tim Stutzle threaded a highlight-reel seam pass to Giroux, who beat Hofer glove side at 17:52 to pull Ottawa within a goal. But any spark from that moment disappeared almost immediately.
Thirty-three seconds later, weak coverage in the Senators’ end allowed Mason McTavish to restore St. Louis’ two-goal cushion.
The Blues had already stretched the lead earlier in the second period. At 13:20, Jake Neighbours scored his sixth goal in nine career games against Ottawa, firing from the top of the slot and beating Ersson high.
Ottawa’s power play also drew the frustration of the crowd. The unit has had its moments this season, but the Senators struggled to get established in the St. Louis zone, and the boos followed.
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The timing only sharpened the conversation, because Matthew Tkachuk was the setup man on each of the three goals, a family connection the NHL said made them the first brothers to pull off that kind of feat. For Ottawa fans, it is a reminder of what Brady can still do when he finds a groove, and of how quickly the debate around his place in the bigger picture can flare up again after one big night. [Read more 🡒]