Alfredsson gets hat trick as Senators top Blues

OTTAWA -- Nearly a month into the season, the Ottawa Senators finally appear to be hitting their stride.

Daniel Alfredsson had three goals and an assist and Jani Hurme stopped 25 shots to lead the Senators to a 4-1 victory over the Blues -- Ottawa's first home victory this season.

"We're back on track," said Hurme, who was within two minutes of his second shutout of the season when Ottawa native Mike Eastwood scored for the Blues. "It's nice to finally win at home."

Ottawa (5-6-1-0) ended a franchise-worst start at home after going 0-3-1 in four games at the Corel Centre.

The Senators' worst overall start was in 1994, when they opened 1-7-2.

"We've been skating really well the last three or four games," said Alfredsson, who registered his third career hat trick with all three goals coming in the final period. "It gives us confidence. It's real encouraging."

Magnus Arvedson added a goal and an assist for the Senators, who came off a 7-2 win Thursday night at Philadelphia that ended the team's five-game winless slide.

Eastwood had the lone goal for St. Louis, which lost for just the second time in seven games and for the first time on the road this season (2-1-2).

Blues goalie Fred Brathwaite, another Ottawa native, finished with 32 saves. St. Louis beat the New York Rangers 5-1 on Thursday.

"We went from our best to our worst," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "Ottawa checked us well, but we kept trying to accommodate them."

Pavol Demitra and Doug Weight each had their nine-game scoring streaks stopped as Hurme, getting the start for the second consecutive game, saw limited action after an 11-shot first period.

The Blues managed just five shots in the second before managing 10 in the third.

"They beat us to every puck," Weight said. "We were outclassed. That was a poor effort."

Arvedson deflected Wade Redden's point shot at 12:13 of the first to make it 1-0. That held up until Alfredsson got his first at 5:12 of the third.

The Senators' captain then scored with a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle at 11:19 before Eastwood redirected in Al MacInnis' shot with 1:51 remaining to spoil the shutout bid and make it 3-1.

Alfredsson completed his hat trick on a breakaway into an empty net.

"It's nice to get a hat trick at home," Alfredsson said. "This is the building where we're going to have to get the most points."

Notes: The Senators sent center Steve Martins to Grand Rapids of the AHL. ... Quenneville remained two wins shy of 200.