After missing 20 games, that wasn't the result Brady Tkachuk was hoping for in his return. In the third period, the Senators lost focus, battles, and inevitably, the game, in a 4–3 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The Sens took a 2–1 lead into the third period against a Blues team that was 0-8-1 when trailing after two periods. Shane Pinto, Fabian Zetterlund, and David Perron had the Ottawa goals, while Tkachuk had an assist in his return from a thumb injury. Leevi Meriläinen made 27 saves as the Sens were outshot 31–28.
There was no scoring for almost half the game, until the 8-minute mark of the second period. After former Senator Mathieu Joseph put one wide, Oskar Sundqvist grabbed the puck off the end boards and banked it in off Sens goalie Leevi Meriläinen to make it 1–0.
Just over two minutes later, Pinto evened the score with his 12th of the season. The puck bounced around in front, Nikolas Matinpalo swatted it toward the net, and Pinto corralled it, pushed it to open ice, and beat Jordan Binnington with a diving wrist shot along the ice.
Later in the period, Fabian Zetterlund added one for Ottawa. He got the puck behind the Blues’ net, stopped, and cut the other way. His wrap attempt didn’t make it around, but the puck deflected in off Binnington to give the Senators a 2–1 lead in the dying moments of the second.
In the third period, things got a little loose for the Sens, who looked like a group that had maybe a little too much Thanksgiving cheer.
Two minutes in, Jordan Kyrou tied the game at 2. On a Blues rush, the Senators had good numbers with four men back, but Tim Stützle and Artem Zub both veered toward the same man. So Jake Sanderson left his post to help, and Drake Batherson didn’t realize it. That left Kyrou wide open for an easy pass and path to the net, and he made no mistake.
Just over three minutes later, defenseman Jordan Spence jumped up in the Blues’ zone. Brady Tkachuk was in good position to cover for him, but when Spence turned it over, Tkachuk made the decision to attack instead of staying back, leaving Tyler Kleven alone. The Blues roared back on a 2-on-1, and Pavel Buchnevich made it 3–2 on a one-timer.
Two minutes after that, David Perron got a gift from Colton Parayko, who misplayed a puck in the corner and put it right onto Perron’s stick in front. His backhander beat Binnington to tie it at 3.
The Blues went in front to stay less than two minutes later on Matthew Kessel’s second of the season. Again, the Senators had good numbers defending a three-on-three, but after a shot near the blue line, everyone lost track of their man, leading to a goalmouth scramble and Kessel finishing it off for the eventual winner.
The regulation loss drops the Senators’ record to 3-2 on this road trip. They'll be back at it again on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in Dallas.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News