The Senators have lost three straight games, getting outscored 18-6 in the process.
All season long, the Ottawa Senators have been bogged down by inconsistent goaltending, missed defensive assignments, and an inability to find ways to win.
All of those things happened again on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
23-year-old Blues' goalie Joel Hofer was outstanding all night making 37 saves as the Sens outshot the Blues, 39-27.
“I think he was the difference in the hockey game,” said Sens' interim head coach Jacques Martin.
The Blues were opportunistic, scoring first when Brandon Saad buried a rebound to make it 1-0. Defenceman Colton Parayko then caught the Sens' defence sleeping, jumping up into the slot and making it 2-0.
Despite the 1st period being even, Hofer kept the score at 2-0 with two huge saves on Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun.
The Senators refused to wilt in the second period and were rewarded when Mathieu Joseph charged down the left wing and threw a seam pass to Mark Kastelic at the far post. Kastelic buried a shot past Hofer to cut the Blues' lead to one..
The Senators continued to create chances but were unable to solve Hofer. And that came back to haunt them as Jake Neighbours whacked the puck into the net during a goal mouth scramble to restore the Blues' two-goal lead.
The Senators had been outscored 7-0 in their last two 3rd periods but tried to change the script on Thursday night when Dominik Kubalik scored a power play marker early in the third, cutting the lead to 3-2.
But as they have many times this season, the Senators failed to take advantage of their opportunities in the third period. And St. Louis didn’t let the Senators off the hook. Jordan Kyrou's rocket past Anton Forsberg made it 4-2.
The Blues would add an empty netter to secure a 5-2 victory.
The Senators were the better team for most of the night, but their opponent had superior goaltending and scoring flair – qualities the Senators have lacked for much of the season.
“Sometimes you have five shots and you score four. And sometimes it's 30 shots and you can't really get it in,” said Kubalik.
The Senators' next game is on Saturday night in New Jersey against the Devils.