SportsDirect Inc. Ad
SportsDirect Inc. Ad
SportsDirect Inc. Ad
National Hockey League
Ottawa 2, St. Louis 0
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 14, 2019
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
Referees: Eric Furlatt, Brad Meier
Linesmen: Ryan Daisy, Bryan Pancich
Attendance: 13378

Anders Nilsson made 35 saves for his second shutout of the season as the lowly Ottawa Senators beat the struggling St. Louis Blues 2-0 at home Thursday night.

Nilsson, the Senators backup who had a 5.14 goals-against average in his previous five starts, made several key saves to help his team earn just its second win in the last 13 games. Ottawa, which has an NHL-low 54 points and has already been eliminated from the playoff race, snapped a five-game home losing streak and a four-game slide to St. Louis, which outshot the hosts 35-21 on the night.

The result could prove costly for the Blues, who have totaled three goals during an 0-2-1 stretch that's come without injured goal leader Vladimir Tarasenko. Though still in playoff position in the Western Conference, St. Louis has scored more than two goals twice during a 4-5-2 stretch that's followed its club-record 11-game winning streak.

St. Louis outshot Ottawa 13-5 in the first period, but had nothing to show for it. The Senators showed more offensive prowess in the early minutes of the second, exceeding their shots on goal total from the first less than seven minutes into the middle period.

Ottawa finally broke through with 6:33 left in the second, when defenseman Christian Wolanin took a cross-ice pass off the wing from Mikkel Boedker and drove one from the high slot into what was essentially an empty net as Blues goalie Jake Allen overcommitted the other way.

The Blues again had their chances in the third, particularly from Ryan O'Reilly and Robert Thomas, but often were stopped on point-blank saves by Nilsson. St. Louis got its third power-play chance of the night with 5:41 left in regulation, but could not take advantage.

Chris Tierney's empty-netter with 57 seconds left sealed the deal for Ottawa.

Allen finished with 19 saves for St. Louis.

Highly touted Ottawa forward Max Veronneau recorded five shots in his NHL debut.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
St. Louis   Ottawa
N/A Points Chris Tierney 1
N/A Goals Chris Tierney 1
N/A Assists Mikkel Boedker 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jake Allen .950 Save Percentage Anders Nilsson 1.000
Jake Allen 19 Saves Anders Nilsson 35
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
St. Louis 35 0 0-3 2-2 6 31
Ottawa 21 2 0-2 3-3 8 23
Upcoming Games
  • Ottawa will play their next game at home against Toronto. The Senators have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .340 after a loss.
  • St. Louis will play their next game on the road against Pittsburgh. The Blues have a W/L % of .472 after a win and .559 after a loss.