Thomas scores twice, Blues beat Senators in Bannister's debut behind bench

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas had two goals and an assist and the St. Louis Blues won in interim coach Drew Bannister's NHL coaching debut, beating the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Thursday night to end a four-game losing streak.

Bannister was moved up from the Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield after Craig Berube who was fired Tuesday night.

Pavel Buchnevich added a goal and an assist, Brandon Saad also scored and Justin Faulk had a two assists. Jordan Binnington made 32 saves.

Dominik Kubalik and Mathieu Joseph scored for Ottawa and Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves. The Senators have dropped three of four.

The Blues had the early jump, starting the game with an 11-0 shots advantage.

Thomas gave the Blues the lead at 8:20 of the first, putting a shot between Korpisalo’s pads after Faulk's outlet pass sprung him on a breakaway.

Thomas made it 2-0 at 5:17 of the second period, cleaning up the rebound off Faulk's shot. Thomas has a team-high 12 goals and has six goals and six assists in his last 12 games.

Saad extended the lead at 8:42 of the second, burying Nick Leddy's feed into an open net.

Kubalik got the Senators on the board with 9:38 left in the second. The goal came less than a minute after Senators captain Brady Tkachuk dropped the gloves with Tyler Tucker in an effort to give the team a spark.

Buchnevich connected at 7:07 of the third period, snapping a four-game scoring drought, and Joseph scored late for Ottawa.

UP NEXT

Senators: At Dallas on Friday night.

Blues: Host Dallas on Saturday night.

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