Preview: Senators at Blues

[January 17, 2017]  The St. Louis Blues are struggling to keep pace with the leaders in the Central Division and a large part of that was going six weeks without stringing together back-to-back victories. The Blues finally ended that drought with a pair of road wins in California and look to carry the momentum into Tuesday's matchup against the visiting Ottawa Senators.

St. Louis is seeking its first three-game winning streak since Nov. 26-Dec. 1 and can tie Chicago for the most home victories (17) in the Western Conference. “On the road especially it’s a good feeling,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo after the Blues knocked off San Jose and Anaheim over the weekend. “I think we not only found our game, but found our game on the road, which has obviously been a cause for concern for us.” Ottawa wrapped up a 2-2-0 homestand with a 4-2 loss to Toronto on Saturday and enters a rugged portion of the schedule beginning with the three-game road trip. The Senators will play five times in an eight-day span, including a pair of dates with Columbus and one against Metropolitan-leading Washington.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN5 (Ottawa), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE SENATORS (22-15-4): Despite the lengthy absence of No. 1 netminder Craig Anderson, who is away from the team to be with his wife as she receives treatment for cancer, Ottawa is holding down a playoff spot at the halfway point of the season. "The goal was to be in the mix at the middle of the season regardless if there was all these things happening to us and we did it," coach Guy Boucher. Clarke MacArthur, sidelined for 15 months, had a baseline concussion test Friday but Boucher offered no update Monday.

ABOUT THE BLUES (23-16-5): Backup goaltender Carter Hutton was in net for both games over the weekend in place of a struggling Jake Allen and turned away 45 of 46 shots in the two victories. "Since after Christmas I've been seeing the puck well," Hutton said. "I've been working on battling and competing to find pucks while staying on my feet as long as possible. ... I visualize pucks and work on my tracking." Patrik Berglund continued his tear by scoring both goals against Anaheim to give him nine over the past 14 games.

OVERTIME

1. Ottawa has won its last three visits to St. Louis, each in a shootout.

2. Blues D Carl Gunnarsson is expected to return to the lineup after missing six games.

3. Senators F Mark Stone needs one assist to reach 100 for his career.

PREDICTION: Blues 4, Senators 2

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