*Photo from the Toronto Star*
How's that for a comeback? Zach Werenski had two assists, Adam Fantilli scored the game winning goal, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 4-2 victory on Friday night in Columbus.
After losing 9 games in a row, the Blue Jackets have rebounded to pick up wins in 4 of their last 6 games, still last in the Metropolitan Division at 8-13-4. Werenski and Johnny Gaudreau paced Columbus on the scoresheet with two assists each.
Columbus forward Patrik Laine said that "It’s no secret we’ve been struggling to find a way to win these games this year. They’ve been struggling too. They’ve got a lot of good players and obviously their goalie. It was a great effort from our team tonight and a huge two points."
It was Claude Giroux who kicked off the scoring, giving the Senators a 1-0 lead with his 6th goal of the season. On the power play at the 11:08 mark of the first, Brady Tkachuk scored to make it 2-0 on his 11th goal of the season. Laine got the Blue Jackets on the board with a power play goal of his own, making it a 2-1 game.
Just 43 seconds later, Dmitri Voronkov scored his 5th goal of the season, tying the score 2-2 unassisted. Fantilli scored the eventual game winning goal 5:16 into the second period, putting Columbus ahead 3-2. Boone Jenner added a power play goal to make it 4-2, with the rest of the game going scoreless.
Getting the start in goal for the Blue Jackets was Elvis Merzlikins, who got the win at home, with his record improving to 6-8-3. Merzlikins stopped 41 of the 43 shots he was tested with by the Senators, good for a .953 save percentage.
Columbus head coach Pascal Vincent said of Merzlikins that "Without Elvis, I’m not sure we see the same final score. He made some big saves and the bench just got elevated. A lot of times it’s one player doing having a great performance and it boosts, gives some confidence."
Starting for the Senators was Joonas Korpisalo, facing his old team for the first time since being traded at last year's trade deadline. Korpisalo made 19 saves on 23 Blue Jackets shots, giving him a .826 save percentage as he fell to 5-6-0 with the loss.
Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot said of the loss that "I honestly believe we deserved better. It was one of those nights. We had a great start, then they get a goal that bounces off someone like that. It’s part of the game, you can’t make excuses, but I thought if we play like that every night, we’re going to get better results more than not."
The Senators head back home to finish a back to back on Saturday night, with Anton Forsberg set to start against the Seattle Kraken. The Blue Jackets travel to face the Boston Bruins on Sunday, with Merzlikins the likely starter.
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