Brandon Saad gets third career hat trick to help Blues beat Senators 4-0

[January 04, 2025]  By DAVID SOLOMON

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Saad had his third career hat trick, Jordan Binnington made 20 saves for his 18th career shutout, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Friday night. 

St. Louis Blues' Brandon Saad (20) scores past Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) and Thomas Chabot (72) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Brayden Schenn also scored for St. Louis, which has won four of its last five games.

Anton Forsberg made 21 saves as Ottawa for the fourth time in five games since winning six straight.

Saad put St. Louis ahead 2-0 with his first goal of the game with 4:10 remaining in the first. It was Saad’s first goal in 20 games since last scoring twice at Buffalo on Nov. 14.

He got his second with 5:45 remaining in the second period, and finished the hat trick with his third goal of the game and seventh of the season with 1:53 remaining in the third period.

Schenn scored his seventh goal of the season 7:26 into the game after Dylan Holloway sprung him loose on a breakaway to put St. Louis ahead 1-0.

Takeaways
Senators: Ottawa showed signs of fatigue after playing at Dallas Thursday night.

Blues: St. Louis played an almost perfect game capitalizing on scoring opportunities early and often.

Key moment
Thomas Chabot appeared to score for Ottawa with 34 seconds remaining in the second period, but St. Louis challenged the play, and the officials ruled that Nick Cousins had entered the zone off-side. Cousins earlier had a chance to tap the puck into a wide-open net with 4:46 remaining in the first period, but he just lost control of the puck in the crease enough for it to sail wide of the goal.

Key stat
Saad’s multi-goal game was his third of the season, accounting for all of his scoring.

Up Next
Senators play at Detroit on Tuesday to conclude a nine-game trip, and Blues visit Columbus on Saturday.

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