*Photo from Zoma Canadian News*
It was a game characterized as tight checking, a battle, and even ugly, but those happen sometimes. Brady Tkachuk scored, Tim Stutzle added the game winning goal, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 2-1 win in a shootout on Friday night in Columbus.
This win for the Senators didn't have flash or style to it, but every win is important for a young team such as Ottawa. They're on a little bit of a run too, having a 4-1-1 record in their last 6 games, including two shootout wins. With Tkachuk's goal, he now has at least one point against the other 31 NHL teams in his career.
Ottawa defenseman Michael Del Zotto said of the game that "It was an ugly game, to be honest with you. They had a great forecheck. We weren't able to exit our zone, cleanly or efficiently. We allowed them to sustain those zone times and we weren't able to have much time in overtime, and Gustavsson obviously helped us in there with some big saves."
Kicking off the scoring was the Blue Jackets, with Jack Roslovic putting Columbus ahead 1-0, scoring on the power play 11:20 into the game, his 20th goal of the season, assisted by Cole Sillinger and Kent Johnson. At the 7:06 mark of the 3rd period, Tkachuk tied the game for the Senators with his 29th goal of the season.
The rest of regulation and overtime went scoreless, so it was on to a shootout. Roslovic and Drake Batherson couldn't score in the first round for their respective teams. Gustav Nyqusit missed in the second round for Columbus, with Stutzle converting. Jakub Voracek couldn't score in the 3rd round for Columbus, sealing the Senators win.
Getting the start in goal for the second straight game was Filip Gustavsson, who shined when he needed to, getting the win. Gustavsson saved all but one of the 34 shots he faced from the Blue Jackets, posting a .971 save percentage. Gustavsson's record improved to 5-11-1 in 17 appearances.
Asked about how the game went, Gustavsson said that "It felt like a little bit of a slow game, the two first periods, like we didn't really play our best game offensively. Then we did pretty good in the third period and we came out of it with the win."
The Blue Jackets lost their 4th game in a row, with Elvis Merzlikins getting the start in goal. Merzlikins played just as well as Gustavsson, stopping all but one of the 26 shots on goal that he faced from the Senators in regulation and OT, recording a .962 save percentage. With the loss, his record drops to 25-21-7 on the season.
Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen said of the loss after the game that "We had some looks. We were hoping to cash in in the second when we missed the net. We had some looks early in the third. We just couldn't get the next one."
Up next, the Senators head back home for a Saturday night matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, with Anton Forsberg to get the start in goal. Merzlikins is the probable starter for the Blue Jackets against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday afternoon.
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