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Stutzle, Norris score in Ottawa’s 4-1 win over Blues

Mar 8, 2022 | 9:03 PM

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tim Stutzle and Josh Norris each scored a power-play goal, sparking the Ottawa Senators to a 4-1 victory Tuesday over the St. Louis Blues.

St. Louis native Brady Tkachuk and Alex Formenton also scored for the Senators. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg stopped 20 shots.

David Perron scored the lone goal for St. Louis, which is 0-3-1 in the last four games — the Blues’ longest losing streak of the season. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington had 24 saves, but left the ice with 3:35 remaining.

Stutzle’s power-play goal on a backhander at 11:35 of the first period gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead. Perron’s turnover followed by a tripping penalty against Tkachuk gave the Senators a man advantage.

It was the fifth time in last six games the opposing team has scored first on the Blues.

Perron made up for his mistake, tying it with about five minutes left in the first on a backhander after getting the puck from Ryan O’Reilly.

Ottawa connected on its second power-play goal at 1:34 in the second period when Norris scored. Stutzle passed to Norris, who blasted the puck with a slap shot from the right faceoff circle under the arm of Binnington for a 2-1 lead. It was Norris’ ninth power play goal this season and 20th overall goal.

St. Louis, which had won six of its previous seven games against the Senators, had just three shots on goal in the second period.

Tkachuk, made it 3-1 in the third when he scored on a wrist shot at 7:48. His father, Keith, an ex-Blue, was seen on the videoboard watching from a skybox. Tkachuk leads the Senators with 40 points on the season.

Alex Formenton added an empty-net goal at 17:13.

ROSTER MOVES

The Blues recalled forwards Mackenzie MacEachern and Alexei Toropchenko from AHL affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds. St. Louis also assigned forwards Dakota Joshua and Klim Kostin to Springfield.

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS

Tuesday’s game marked the first Blues’ first regular-season game this year without any COVID-19 protocols. Masks no longer are mandatory for Blues games and proof of vaccination no longer is required, per city of St. Louis health guidelines.

ICE CHIPS

There was a videoboard tribute and applause for ex-Blue Zach Sanford in his first game back in St. Louis since he was traded for C Logan Brown last September. Brown was a healthy scratch for the game. … This was Ottawa’s first visit to St. Louis since Jan. 19, 2019, when the Blues won 3-2. St. Louis is the lone team Ottawa did not visit during the 2019-20 or 2020-21 seasons.

INJURIES

Senators: G Matt Murray (undisclosed) has been placed on injured reserve following a collision against Arizona on Saturday. Murray has lost six straight starts. … Other Senators who remain on the IR are RW Drake Batherson, C Shane Pinto and C Chris Tierney.

Blues: D Marco Scandella (lower body), D Scott Perunovich (upper body), and C Oskar Sundqvist (lower body) remain out.

UP NEXT

Ottawa: Host Seattle on Thursday night.

St. Louis: Host New York Rangers on Thursday night.

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Warren Mayes, The Associated Press