Blues hold off Senators for 2,000th win in franchise history

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jake Neighbours and Noel Acciari scored first-period goals and Jordan Binnington made 31 saves to lead the St. Louis Blues over the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Monday night.

St. Louis broke a two-game skid and beat the Senators for the seventh time in nine meetings.

Tim Stutzle scored for Ottawa, which has lost four of five.

Acciari pounced on a miscue by Senators goalie Cam Talbot to make it 2-0. Talbot partially fanned on a clearing attempt, giving Acciari an open net.

Neighbours scored from close range off a pass from Calle Rosen, who broke loose on the right wing.

Ottawa ended a four-period scoring drought when Stutzle converted from the slot in the second off a pass from Brady Tkachuk, a St. Louis native. Stutzle leads the Senators with 19 goals.

St. Louis, which is 9-10-2 at home, managed just 12 shots over the first two periods.

Binnington, who lost two of his three previous starts, improved to 17-14-3. He stopped a backhander from Claude Giroux from close range with 5:37 left.

St. Louis earned its 2,000th win all-time, becoming the eighth NHL team to reach that mark. The Blues entered the league in 1967.

Talbot made 18 saves for the Senators, who were coming off a 7-0 loss to Colorado on Saturday.

INJURY UPDATES

Ottawa D Artem Zub sat out after sustaining a lower-body injury Saturday. ... St. Louis RW Vladimir Tarasenko is expected back some time this week. He participated in the pregame skate Monday. Tarasenko has been out since Dec. 31 with a hand injury.

UP NEXT

Senators: Host the Penguins on Wednesday before a rematch in Pittsburgh on Friday.

Blues: Take on Nashville on Thursday in their fifth successive home game.

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