By Joe Coopersmith

GAME AT A GLANCE

THREE STARS 1^st – A. Forsberg, OTT (stopped 35-of-37 shots faced, SOW); 2^nd – E. Merzlikins, CBJ (stopped 34-of-36 shots faced, SOL); 3^rd – C. Giroux, OTT (1-0-1, SO Winner)

GOAL SCORERS
Columbus: B. Jenner (20), PP – A. Nylander (6)

Ottawa: C. Giroux (19), T. Stutzle (16), SO – C. Giroux

GOALTENDERS
Columbus: E. Merzlikins (34 saves, SOL)
Ottawa: A. Forsberg (35 saves, SOW)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Columbus PP:  1-for-3, 6 shots
Ottawa PP:  0-for-3, 7 shots

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets moved to 3-3-1 in the last seven games and 6-7-1 in the past 14 contests following tonight’s shootout loss to Ottawa.
• CBJ have picked up points in 12 of the last 16 meetings in the series vs. the Senators dating back to Mar. 17, 2018 (9-4-3) after finishing 1-1-1 in the season series against the club.
• Columbus has recorded points in four consecutive contests played at Nationwide Arena in the series (2-0-2) and in nine of the past 10 games at home (7-1-2).
• Seven of the last 12 meetings in the series have been decided by a single goal (CBJ; 5-4-3) with five of them decided in overtime/shootout.
• Tonight marked the fourth time in the last six games of the series played at Nationwide Arena that the clubs played past regulation (CBJ; 2-2).
• CBJ converted on one-of-three power play attempts tonight and have now scored a power play goal in five of the past seven games of the series (6-of-18; 33.3 pct.)
• C Boone Jenner’s goal 15 seconds into the first period is the fastest to start a Blue Jackets’ game since Nov. 7, 2019 (Gus Nyquist, 14 seconds at Arizona) and the sixth fastest in franchise history (third quickest at home).
• CBJ blueliners posted 0-2-2 tonight and have now recorded 13-43-56 in the last 28 games and 26-119-145 in 66 games this season.
• The club recorded 36 shots on goal tonight and has now registered 539 shots on goal over the last 16 contests dating back to Feb. 10 (33.7 avg.).
• The Blue Jackets blocked 23 shots tonight and have now blocked 935 shots over the past 55 games dating back to Nov. 6 and 1,144 this season.
• CBJ have scored the first goal of the games in 25 of the last 47 contests, including seven of the last 12.
• Columbus has had 16 of its games decided in overtime/shootout this season.
• The Blue Jackets scored one goal in the first period tonight and have now recorded 64 first period goals this season.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES_­

• C Boone Jenner scored his 20^th goal of the season to notch his third consecutive – and fourth career – 20-goal campaign, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to record four or more 20-goal seasons (Rick Nash-8, Cam Atkinson-6, R.J. Umberger-4).  The forward has now collected 7-5-12 in the last 16 contests.  He improved to 8-4-12 in 23 career outings vs. the Senators, including goals in each of his past three homes games and four appearances overall against the club.
• LW Johnny Gaudreau notched his team-leading 10^th multi-assist and 12^th multi-point effort of the campaign with two assists, giving him points in 12 of his last 19 games (3-15-18).  In his second season with the club, he already ranks eighth all-time in multi-assist outings (24) and is two games shy of tying Artemi Panarin for seventh.  He now has 6-22-28 in 29 career outings against Ottawa, including assists in each of his past four appearances (0-7-7) and 3-12-14 in his last 14 contests vs. the club overall as well as multiple assists in three-straight home games (0-6-6), assists in six consecutive home games (1-10-11) and points in each of his past nine home outings against the Sens (2-12-14).
• D Zach Werenski tallied an assist, giving him 0-6-6 in his past eight contests and 3-9-12 in the last 17 games (overall, 4-35-39 in 54 GP).  He improved to 4-12-16 in 16 career outings vs. the Senators, including assists in each of his past seven games overall (0-9-9) and points in nine of his past 10 (2-10-12) as well as assists in his past five home games (0-6-6) and points in his last six home appearances (2-6-8).
• RW Alex Nylander scored a goal and has now collected points in five of his last eight games (6-2-8).
• D Adam Boqvist, who left the game in the first period with an upper body injury, registered an assist to give him 1-9-10 in 35 appearances this season.

BLUE JACKETS POST-GAME AUDIO INTERVIEWS

HC Pascal Vincent | F Johnny Gaudreau | F Boone Jenner | G Elvis Merzlikins

SENATORS POST-GAME AUDIO INTERVIEWS

Interim HC Jacques Martin | G Anton Forsberg | F Claude Giroux | F Tim Stutzle

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS