Senators strike early, roll to 8-1 drubbing of Blues

Tim Stutzle scored twice and added two assists as the Ottawa Senators rolled past the visiting St. Louis Blues 8-1 on Tuesday night.

Brady Tkachuk and Adam Gaudette also had two goals apiece for the Senators, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Josh Norris and Noah Gregor also scored for Ottawa. Drake Batherson and Claude Giroux each earned two assists, and goaltender Linus Ullmark made 26 saves.

Dylan Holloway scored for the Blues, who lost their second straight game.

St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer allowed five goals on 21 shots before getting pulled in the second period.

Blues winger Kasperi Kapanen was knocked out of the game in the second with an upper-body injury.

The Senators outshot the Blues 16-8 in the first period while taking a 3-0 lead.

Ottawa needed just 64 seconds to score. Giroux raced up the left wing and fed Norris flying down the middle for a redirection goal.

The Senators scored off the rush to make it 2-0 at the 4:44 mark. Michael Amadio carried the puck up the ice and fed Gregor for his shot off the left wing.

The Senators converted a two-on-one break to make it 3-0 with 4:56 left in the period. Stutzle stole the puck, rushed up the right wing and snapped a shot past Hofer.

Tkachuk scored a power-play goal from the slot 8:55 into the second period to push the margin to 4-0.

Just 2:13 later, Tkachuk scored again with the man advantage. He wristed home a shot from the top of the right circle to make it 5-0.

Jordan Binnington replaced Hofer and allowed Gaudette's goal from the near slot on the first shot he faced as the Senators pushed their lead to 6-0 at 11:50 of the second.

Stutzle made it 7-0 at 7:31 of the third period by converting Thomas Chabot's pass from the right side of the net.

Holloway spoiled Ullmark's shutout bid with a power-play marker with 10:56 left in the game. But Gaudette made it 8-1 at 15:27 by scoring off a Blues turnover in front of their net.

--Field Level Media