Blues can't hold lead, Senators escape in OT 3-2
ST. LOUIS -- Bobby Ryan helped the Ottawa Senators end both their scoring drought and their losing streak.
Ryan scored twice, including the game-winner at 2:33 overtime, to help the Senators rally from a two-goal deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
"Huge win," Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said. "Huge win. Falling behind 2-0, found a way to come back and got the win. Did a lot of good things in the first. Took our foot off the pedal a bit in the second. We're real good, I thought, the first 10 minutes of the third. And the power play was huge."
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Mike Hoffman scored his 19th of the season and Andrew Hammond made 36 saves for the Senators, who had lost three straight and been shut out in back-to-back games against Chicago and New Jersey.
"Obviously we've been fighting it a little bit to get some goals," Hammond said. "You kind of knew once we got that first one it would open the door for us. Fortunately for us our power play was able to get us two during the 60 minutes and then we were able to win it in overtime there."
Troy Brouwer and Kevin Shattenkirk scored for St. Louis, while Brian Elliott made 29 saves. The Blues have lost three straight and four of five and now head West for a three-game road trip against Colorado, Anaheim and Los Angeles.
"We had a chance to bury them and we could have buried them a number of ways," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We could have buried them offensively and we could have buried them defensively and we let them off the hook."
The Blues scored first, with 5:44 left in the first period, when Brouwer got past defenseman Patrick Wiercioch and beat Hammond glove side for his seventh goal of the season and first in 10 games.
Shattenkirk made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:42 into the second period, aided by a screen from David Backes in front.
The Senators got a power-play goal from Hoffman, his 19th, with 1:14 remaining in the period. The goal came on a slap shot from the left circle that Elliott got a piece of but couldn't stop.
Ryan tied it 5:01 into the third period with a power-play goal just 4 seconds after St. Louis' Jay Bouwmeester was called for tripping. It was Ryan's 200th career goal.
"Especially tonight, playing a team that played last night, we have to find a way to bury them," Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "We took our foot off the gas. It's unacceptable on our part. You've got a team 2-1 in the third period that played last night, we're fresh, we have to find a way to finish that. We have to put a foot down and bury them and not let them get back into it."
Ryan scored the game-winner 2:33 into overtime, assisted by Mark Stone and Chris Wideman. Ryan fell down in the offensive zone, got up, got the puck back, had a give-and-go exchange with Stone and then faked out Elliott for the goal.
"That's the old rope-a-dope," Ryan said. "That's exactly the way we drew it up -- fall down, swipe at the puck, get it back somehow and when you get it across you're going to get it back and it's going to lay on your tape. So the rest of it's pretty easy for me."
NOTES: Ryan's three points gave him 30 in 23 career games vs. St. Louis. ... The Blues helped raise money for flood relief efforts on Monday by soliciting donations online and with a special silent auction. ... Ottawa D Wideman is a St. Louis native and played his first NHL game in his hometown on Monday. ... Senators F Mika Zibanejad took a stick to the face early in the first period and did not return. Hammond said Zibanejad got some stitches around his eye and had some swelling. ... The attendance of 19,152 was the Blues' ninth sellout of the season.
