Blues rout Senators 7-2 as Suter, Neighbours, McTavish each score twice

The St. Louis Blues beat the Ottawa Senators 7-2 on Tuesday at Canadian Tire Centre, with Pius Suter, Jake Neighbours and Mason McTavish each scoring twice. The victory snapped Ottawa’s three-game winning streak and lifted St. Louis to 3-2-1.

Pavel Buchnevich had three assists for St. Louis, which scored four times in the third period to break the game open. Joel Hofer made 15 saves for the Blues. Samuel Ersson stopped 19 shots for Ottawa.

Suter opened the scoring at 14:28 of the first period on a short-handed goal. Colton Parayko forced a turnover in St. Louis’s defensive zone and fed Suter on the rush, and Suter beat Ersson from the left hash marks for a 1-0 lead.

Neighbours made it 2-0 at 13:20 of the second period with a shot from the high slot. Claude Giroux cut it to 2-1 at 17:52, taking a backhand feed from Tim Stutzle behind the net and snapping a wrist shot high to the blocker side. Just 33 seconds later, Jonatan Berggren found McTavish surrounded by three Senators near the crease, and McTavish backhanded the puck into the open net for a 3-1 lead.

Suter scored again at 7:54 of the third for a 4-1 lead, a one-timer from a sharp angle that slipped under Ersson’s right arm. Neighbours tapped in a Buchnevich feed on the rush at 14:46 for 5-1. McTavish scored his second on the power play at 15:33 from the right circle for 6-1.

Adam Jiricek, in his sixth NHL game, scored his first career goal at 16:32 from just above the right circle for 7-1. Fabian Zetterlund closed the scoring on the power play at 18:33 for the 7-2 final.

Suter finished with two goals and an assist for three points. McTavish also added an assist. Giroux and Zetterlund scored for Ottawa.

St. Louis has won two straight games and has points in three of its last four, improving to 3-2-1. Ottawa, which had won three in a row, remains atop the Atlantic Division at 5-2-0.