The St. Louis Blues did not arrive in Ottawa with the cleanest early-season profile, but this trip opener is still a useful checkpoint. On one side is a team trying to steady an uneven start and sort out a power play that has lagged behind the rest of its game. On the other is an Ottawa Senators group that has already banked a 5-1-0 start and is asking a very different set of questions.
That contrast is what makes Blues Vs Senators more interesting than a standard October game. St. Louis comes in at 2-2-1 after a stretch that included a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, while Ottawa entered after beating the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Monday. The result is a matchup between a road team still searching for consistency and a home team that has already established a confident early rhythm.
The Blues' better work has been on the right side of the puck
Jim Montgomery was clear on Monday about where he likes his team. He said he was “incredibly happy” with the Blues’ D-zone coverage and tracking, and praised the aggressiveness of the defense group and the team’s 200-foot hockey. He also pointed to improved defensive sticks, more turnovers forced in the forecheck, the defensive zone and the neutral zone, and strong goaltending. That is not the profile of a broken team. It is the profile of a team that has handled large parts of the game well.
The numbers back up that split. St. Louis came into the game with a top-four penalty kill and a 14-for-15 mark on the PK, good for 93.3 percent. That kind of start matters because it suggests the Blues can survive stretches without the puck. The problem is that the same level has not shown up on the power play. Montgomery said the club had been “too inconsistent” with its offensive habits around the net front and inside ice, and that the reloads had not been reliable enough to keep possession alive. The result: a 29th-ranked power play at 9.3 percent.
That is the central tension here. St. Louis is defending well enough to stay in games, but special teams have not been balanced. A team can survive leaning on its penalty kill for a while. It cannot do that forever, especially on a three-game road trip where margins tend to shrink.
Ottawa arrives with momentum, even without Brady Tkachuk
The Senators’ start has looked far more stable. At 5-1-0, they have already shown they can stack wins even while playing without Brady Tkachuk. That matters because it suggests Ottawa is not relying on one player to manufacture every stretch of good hockey. A 4-1 win over New Jersey on Monday only reinforced that early-season confidence.
There is also a contrast in offensive efficiency. Ottawa was averaging 3.20 goals per game, a sign that its attack has been productive enough to punish mistakes. That is a concern for St. Louis, because the Blues have not been scoring at a level that makes every special-teams lapse survivable. If the game turns into a series of broken shifts and quick momentum swings, Ottawa has already shown it can cash in.
That is especially important in a building like Canadian Tire Center in Kanata, where the first 10 minutes can shape the tone. St. Louis needed a stronger offensive identity even before this trip began. Now it has to find one against a team that has been getting results while missing a major piece.
What this game really measures
Montgomery’s Monday session also hinted at why the Blues may still believe the broader process is sound. He said the club was happy with the penalty kill, defensive play and goaltending, but not with the power play. He also noted that the team had used two power-play units, with names such as Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway, Jake Neighbours, Jimmy Snuggerud, Cam Fowler, Connor McMichael, Mason McTavish, Pavel Buchnevich and Dalibor Dvorsky among the mix. That kind of rotation is usually a sign that the staff is still searching for the right blend rather than abandoning the idea altogether.
Montgomery’s point was simple enough: the Blues have done enough in the low-event parts of the game to stay competitive, but they need cleaner offensive habits to turn that into wins. That is why this road trip opener matters. It is not just about one game in Ottawa. It is about whether St. Louis can keep its defensive floor while raising its attacking ceiling before the trip gets harder.
The Blues are not asking to be judged on one October night. They are asking to be judged on whether the good parts of their game can start to support the weak ones. Against a Senators team already playing with confidence, that test starts now.
