In Ottawa, the Senators dropped a 7-2 loss on the St Louis Blues in a Sunday matinee.
The Blues are effectively a gutted roster at this point.
The trades of Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly have taken the heart out of the lineup.
The Senators built a 6-0 lead into the early minutes of the third peirod before the Blues managed any offense.
“Our best players were our best players,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said.
Colton Parayko and Tyler Pitlick scored for St Louis to close the gap a bit, 6-2, and make the 7-2 final look a little more respectable.
“Obviously, a lot of difficult things are coming our way,” Parayko said. “But hey, that’s part of pro sports. We do this as a business.”
The Blues dropped to 26-27-3.
“You’ve got to move on,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “You’re pros, they’re pros. They get paid to perform, and that’s not performing tonight.
“They have to figure it out. You’ve got to get over what’s going on. We have veterans in there that are good players and they’ve got to take control of the team and they’ve got to understand the situation we’re in. They’ve got to play better. That’s how you take control of it.”
Mads Sogaard made 30 saves in the Senators win.
Ottawa improved to 27-24-4.
“Obviously, not good enough, right from the start,” Pitlick said.
Ottawa took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a marker form Shane Pinto .
The Sens added four goals in the middle frame with Alex DeBrincat starting the outburst to make it a 2-0 advantage.
“I think our group is more mature now that they’re letting games go,” Smith said of his players rebounding after a 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. “I think people on the outside made so much noise about losing to Chicago, but any team can beat any team. We’re witness to that. … I think our guys just knew we didn’t play the right way.
“They turned the page, which is a good sign because if you win a game, you’re not going to be too high either. And I think that’s where the leadership has gotten a lot better that way.”
Tim Stutzle, who had a double on the afternoon, extended the lead to 3-0.
“You guys can see it, his confidence is very high right now,” Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot said of Stutzle. “He’s such a talented player. Anytime he gets the puck, something happens, and I think we’ve all seen that since he’s been here. Obviously, it’s [been] taken to another level, but I think he’s going to keep that going.”
Brady Tkachuk ballooned the lead to 4-0 midway through the second stanza.
”We’ve got to move past it at some point, right?” Pitlick said, noting the recent trades. “They were big pieces in our locker room and on the ice, but I think we have the right group and the guys here that can look past it and move past it.”
Drake Batherson made it 5-0 headed to the third period, Stutzle hit his double in the third for the 6-0 advantage.
Ottawa’s Ridly Greig scored at 18:16 for the 7-2 final.
I’m not much of a celebrator,” Greig said of his subdued reaction. “Maybe if it was a 2-2 game, I probably would have done something, but it was a good feeling.”
Thomas Greiss made 27 saves in the Blues loss.
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