OTTAWA SENATORS NOTES:
LAST GAME: Jan. 14, 7-0 loss at Colorado: The Avalanche established a new franchise mark for single game goals against Ottawa in what was a 7-0 Senators defeat at Ball Arena. The score equaled Ottawa’s franchise mark for the second worst shutout loss in franchise history. The home side was paced by Newhook and Lehkonen who both registered one goal, two assist contests. Rantanen had two goals for Colorado to move into first leaguewide in even strength goals on the season (23). Hunt had the additional goal for the Avalanche while O’Connor and MacKinnon both had two assist games. Francouz turned aside each of the 29 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season while Forsberg allowed seven goals on 33 shots to take the loss for Ottawa. Scratches: None; Injuries: Chartier, Joseph, Motte, Norris, Zaitsev; Shots: OTT – 29, COL – 33; PP: OTT – 0-3, COL – 1-2.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: This evening’s game against St. Louis will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet and RDS2. On the radio, the game will be available locally via TSN 1200 (English) and 94,5 Unique-FM (French).
WHAT’S NEXT: Ottawa returns home to face Pittsburgh in the first half of a home-and-home series on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. The contest will mark the first of three regular-season meetings and the lone matchup at Canadian Tire Centre.
INJURY REPORT: C Chartier, RW Joseph, LW Motte, C Norris and D Zaitsev are on IR and will not oppose the Blues this evening. Total man-games lost: 146.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS: Recalled D Bernard-Docker from Belleville (AHL) on Jan. 15.
OTTAWA vs. ST. LOUIS – History:
2022-23 (0-0-0): Jan. 16 @ St. Louis, Feb. 19 @ Ottawa
2021-22 (1-1-0): 2/15/22 @ Ottawa (5-2 loss), 3/8/22 @ St. Louis (4-1 win)
Series record: Overall: 18-19-2-1; Home: 8-12-0-1; Away: 10-7-2-0
Last Ottawa win: @ Ottawa: 3/14/19 (2-0); @ St. Louis: 3/8/22 (4-1)
Last St. Louis win: @ Ottawa: 2/15/22 (5-2); @ St. Louis: 1/19/19 (3-2)
Last OT result: 1/4/16 (3-2 OT win) @ St. Louis
Last shootout: 3/1/16 (4-3 SO loss) @ Ottawa
Most goals, game: Scored: 7, (2/20/96, 7-1 win); Allowed: 11, (2/26/94, 11-1 loss); Both teams: 12, (2/26/94, 11-1 loss)
Last Game: 3/8/22, 4-1 win @ Ottawa; OTT Goals: Stützle, Norris, Tkachuk, Formenton; STL Goal: Perron; OTT Scratches: Ennis, Mete; OTT Injuries: Batherson, Murray, Pinto, Tierney; OTT Goalie: Forsberg; STL Goalie: Binnington; OTT PP: 2-2; STL PP: 0-1; Shots: 28-23.
Career vs. St. Louis: Brassard leads all players in career games played (43), in assists (19), in points (23) and is tied with Giroux in penalty minutes (20); DeBrincat leads in goals (seven) against St. Louis.
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES: Ottawa will play back-to-back games on 12 occasions in 2022-23 and will open their fourth set of the season on Friday when the team visits Pittsburgh ahead of welcoming Winnipeg to Canadian Tire Centre the following evening … The Senators played 17 back-to-back sets last season and earned a record of 6-9-2 in the first half of contests on consecutive nights (2-1-0 this season) while posting an 8-8-1 record (2-1-0 this season) in the second half of games on consecutive days.
ON THE POWER PLAY: The Senators are 42 for 158 (26.6%) on the power-play in 2022-23 … Drake Batherson leads with 10 powerplay goals while Batherson and DeBrincat maintain the club lead with 19 points while the team enjoys a man advantage … Ottawa has recorded multiple power-play goals 11 times in an individual contest in 2022-23 after having done so 11 times in 2021-22.
ON THE PENALTY KILL: Ottawa has overcome 118 of the 144 occasions the team has been shorthanded in 2022-23 to maintain an efficiency of 81.9% through 42 regular-season games … The team has registered four (Joseph, Motte, Watson x2) shorthanded markers this season after recording nine such goals in 2021-22.
ST. LOUIS BLUES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES
Scott Perunovich – Shoulder (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Oct. 4)
Marco Scandella – Right Hip (Re-evaluated in 6 months, announced on Sep. 20)
Torey Krug – Lower-Body (Re-evaluated in 6 weeks, announced on Dec. 27)
Vladimir Tarasenko – Hand Injury (Re-evaluated in 4 weeks, announced on Jan. 2)
Ryan O’Reilly – Broken Foot (Re-evaluated in 6 weeks, announced on Jan. 2)
Logan Brown – Upper-Body (announced on Jan. 7)
Robert Bortuzzo – Lower-Body (announced on Jan. 9)
2022-23 Total Man Games Lost: 183
Recent Transactions
January
13 – Assigned defenseman Dmitri Samorukov to the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
9 – Placed defenseman Robert Bortuzzo on injured reserve
9 – Recalled defenseman Dmitri Samorukov from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
5 – Placed forward Logan Brown on the injured reserve
5 – Recalled defenseman Tyler Tucker from the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
BLUES VS. SENATORS
- The Blues and Senators will meet for the 1st of 2 matchups this season
- They will finish their season series on Feb. 19 in Ottawa
- The Blues went 1-1-0 against Ottawa last season, with each team winning on the road
- The Blues are 6-2-0 in their last 8 games against Ottawa
- Since Nov. 19, 2010, the Blues are 10-3-4 in 17 games against the Senators
- The Blues are 3-2-3 in their last 8 games against Ottawa at Enterprise Center
- The Blues are 9-5-3 in their last 17 games overall since Dec. 11 vs. Colorado
- The Blues’ 9 wins share 10th in the NHL (1. Boston/Carolina, 12), while their 21 points share 9th in the NHL (1. Boston, 27 points) since Dec. 11
- The Blues are 18-7-0 this season when scoring first, which shares the 6th most wins in the NHL (1. Boston, 21-0-2 & Carolina, 21-4-4)
- The Blues are 1 of 4 teams to record 3 multi-goal third period comeback wins this season (Kings/Islanders/Ducks)
- With a win on Monday vs. Ottawa, the Blues will become the 8th franchise in NHL history to record 2000 wins (2nd non-original 6 team, Philadelphia)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
1/19 – vs. Nashville
1/21 – vs. Chicago
1/24 – vs. Buffalo
1/26 – at Arizona
1/28 – at Colorado
A LOOK AHEAD
- The Blues will continue a season-long 7-game home stand on Monday against Ottawa (1-2-0 so far) after starting 2023 with a 4-game road trip (3-1-0 on 4-game trip)
- The Blues will play 11 of their next 16 games at Enterprise Center, including Monday vs. Ottawa, which will go through February and take them into March
- The Blues’ next 6 games will come against teams that are not currently in a playoff spot
NEW YEAR NEW BLUES
- Since the start of the 2023 calendar year, the Blues are 4-3-0
- Their 4 wins since the start of 2023 share 7th in the NHL (1. Seattle, 8-0-0)
- Their 8 points since the start of 2023 share 8th in the NHL (1. Seattle, 16)
- The Blues have scored 24 goals so far in 2023, which shares 6th in the NHL (1. Seattle, 41)
- The Blues have gone 6 for 19 (31.6%) on the power play in 2023, which ranks 4th in the NHL (1. Florida, 45.0%)
- Brandon Saad has scored 5 goals in 2023, which shares 9th in the NHL (1. J. Hughes/Pastrnak, 8)
- Pavel Buchnevich has posted 6 assists and 9 points in 2023
- Buchnevich’s 6 assists share 9th in the NHL in 2023 (1. Dunn, 9), while his 9 points share 14th (1. J. Hughes, 13)
SPECIAL TEAMS STARTING TO HEAT UP
- The Blues have scored a power play goal in 5 straight games 3 different times this season (Dec. 16-27, Nov. 17-25, & Jan. 3-10)
- The Blues have also scored a power play goal in 10 of their last 14 games (since Dec. 16), going 12 for 41 (29.3%) on the power play, which ranks 6th in the NHL in that span (1. Tampa Bay, 35.1%), while their 12 power play goals also rank 6th in the NHL (1. Edmonton, 15)
- From the beginning of the season through Dec. 15, the Blues had a power play percentage 20.5%, which ranked 23rd in the NHL
- Since Dec. 16, the Blues have improved their season power play percentage to 23.4%, which ranks 12th in the NHL (1. Edmonton, 31.3%)
- In their last 17 games since Dec. 11, the Blues have gone 41 for 49 (83.7%), on the penalty kill, which shares the 7th best penalty kill in the NHL in that span (1. Ottawa, 40 for 44, 90.9%)
