Robert Thomas scored twice and earned an assist as the St. Louis Blues won Drew Bannister’s coaching debut 4-2 over the visiting Ottawa Senators Thursday.
The Blues fired coach Craig Berube after their 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Bannister, who was coaching the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield, was promoted to his role in St. Louis on an interim basis.
Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and assist and Brandon Saad also scored for the Blues, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Justin Faulk had two assists for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves.
Dominik Kubalik and Mathieu Joseph scored and Joonas Korpisalo had 26 saves for the Senators, who lost for the sixth time in nine games.
The Blues started fast, producing the first 10 shots on goal and outshooting the Senators 14-6 while taking a 1-0 lead. Thomas put them on the board by taking a home-run pass from Faulk and scoring on a breakaway with a shot through Korpisalo’s pads.
Thomas struck again in the second period, this time by deflecting Faulk’s point shot on goal, then backhanding the rebound into the net.
Saad made it 3-0 just 3:25 later. Defenseman Nick Leddy sliced in through the left circle, froze Korpisalo with a fake, then slid a cross-ice pass to Saad outside the right post for an easy conversion.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk sought to shift the game’s momentum by fighting Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker midway through the second period.
Shortly thereafter, Kubalik cut the St. Louis lead to 3-1 by burying a backhand shot on a clean break-in.
Buchnevich pushed the Blues’ lead to 4-1 7:07 into the third period by scoring with a one-timer from the slot after some back-and-forth passing with Jordan Kyrou.
Batherson cut Ottawa’s deficit to 4-2 by deflecting Ridly Grieg’s shot with 1:34 left to play.
–Field Level Media
