3 takeaways from Senators' dominating 8-1 win at home against Blues
After going 1-2-0 on their three-game West Coast road trip, the Ottawa Senators were eager to return home for one game to host the St. Louis Blues.
A blackout at Canadian Tire Centre would cause a delay to start the game. The Senators could've came out sluggish after the delay, but the Senators did anything but come out sluggish.
The Senators defeated the Blues 7-1 at Canadian Tire Centre to improve to 5-4-0 on the season. The Senators bounced back too against the Blues after getting swept by the Blues in last year's season series who fall to 5-5-0 with the loss.
The game was dominated by the Senators from start to finish, and the Senators needed a dominant win after two brutal road losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche.
3. Two Senators get their firsts of what the franchise hopes is many more to come
Prior to the game, the Senators called up Zack Ostapchuk to make his season debut. Ostapchuk had a good 2024 preseason and was eager to carry his preseason momentum over into his season debut after not making the opening night roster.
Ostapchuk would record his first career NHL point with having the secondary assist on Noah Gregor's goal in the first period to put the Senators up 2-0. With an assist tonight, the Senators hope Ostapchuk can continue to grow confidence at 21 years old. Another player that also needed to get going offensively was the other player who recorded the other assist on Gregor's goal.
That would be Michael Amadio. Through the first eight games of the season, it was a brutal start for Amadio in Ottawa as he was pointless in every game. Amadio would get the primary assist on Gregor's goal to record his first point as a Senator. Amadio has had great recent success against the Blues over the past two seasons, and his success carried over tonight to record his first point as a Senator.
Streeeetch, turn, fire, GOAL!!#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/MEdjWbmQgZ
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 29, 2024
2. The offense simply can't be stopped
On the three-game West Coast road trip, the Senators offense scored four goals in each of the three games. Against the Blues, the Senators offense showed no signs of slowing down, and that the offense needs to be recognized as one of the best.
The Senators scored three goals in the first period and second period and two goals in the third period. The Senators chased Blues goaltender Joel Hofer from the net after Brady Tkachuk scored his second goal of the game on the powerplay to make it 5-0 Senators in the second period. Just 42 seconds later after Jordan Binnington came in for Hofer, Adam Gaudette scored to make it 6-0 Senators. Gaudette also scored another goal in the third period to now have four goals scored in the past three games.
Have yourself a day Tkap 🫡#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/wKaRCR6fYo
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 30, 2024
Tim Stutzle remained hot with recording two goals and two assists. Both of Stutzle's assists came on both of Tkachuk's powerplay goals. Drake Batherson recorded two assists and Claude Giroux extended his point streak to seven games. Nick Cousins has also picked up points in back-to-back games after going pointless through the first seven games of the season.
When the Senators offense is dominating, it causes the rest of the team to play together so much stronger. With tonight's game, the Senators have scored 25 goals in the past five games. The offense closed out October in strong fashion with having two games with eight goals scored.
1. He's back and calm, cool and collected doing so
Linus Ullmark missed four consecutive games after playing in the first two games of the season. Ullmark returned to the net this past Friday against the Golden Knights, but his first start back went rough after allowing in five goals.
Ullmark would get the start tonight and desperately needed a bounce back game in the net. Safe to say against the Blues, Ullmark bounced back well.
Through the first two periods, Ullmark made 14 saves, but the better part was Ullmark wasn't pressured for most of the entire game until the third period. While Dylan Holloway did score to break up the shutout, it came in the third period when the game was out of reach at 7-1.
Ullmark finished with making 26 saves to earn his second win as a Senator with 12 saves coming in the third period, but it's important for head coach Travis Green to not have Ullmark play with injuries bothering him.
The Senators also got help tonight with not only winning in convincing fashion, but also Atlantic Division foes Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins both losing tonight in regulation. The Senators jumped into the second Wild Card spot with 10 points with the win and both the Canadiens and Bruins losing.
The Senators will return to action on Friday night as they travel to New York City to take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Friday is the beginning of the Senators' first set of back-to-back games this season. The Senators lost the season series 1-2-0 against the Rangers last season.