Blue Jackets score four straight, rally past Senators

COLUMBUS -- Elvis Merzlikins made 41 saves for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who scored four unanswered goals and rallied past the Ottawa Senators for a 4-2 win at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

“After it was 2-0, we didn't give up,” Merzlikins said. “We kept skating. We were all together, we were blocking the shots. We were trying hard. Obviously, this is hockey. A lot can happen, but I was hoping and I believe that we can turn around this thing, and we turned it around, and it went really well.”

Adam Fantilli scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets (8-13-4), who have won four of six following a nine-game skid (0-7-2). Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski each had two assists.

It was Columbus’ first multigoal comeback win of the season and first since March 21, 2023, a 7-6 overtime victory against the Washington Capitals.

“Elvis was outstanding tonight,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “Without Elvis, I'm not sure we see the same final score.”

Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Claude Giroux scored for the Senators (8-10-0), who have lost three straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves.

Columbus went 2-for-2 on the power play, and Ottawa went 1-for-5 with the man advantage despite 16 shots.

“I felt we had the puck the majority of the game,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “Obviously, our penalty kill gave up two shots, two goals. I don’t think they had a lot of chances.

“We did enough things to win the game today. At the end of the day, we don’t get a couple of blocks and they get some tips, and they go into the net. We’ve got to find ways to score.”

Giroux gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 8:43 of the first period, taking advantage of a giveaway for a 2-on-1 before Tkachuk found him skating down the slot for the goal.

Tkachuk made it 2-0 at 11:08, scoring eight seconds into the power play on a one-timer from the right circle.

Patrik Laine cut it to 2-1 at 14:53 with a power-play goal from the top of the right circle.

“I honestly believe we deserved better,” said Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot, who returned after missing 10 games with a broken hand. “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.”

Dmitri Voronkov scored 43 seconds later to tie it 2-2 at 15:36 on a quick shot inside the right post following a steal.

Fantilli put Columbus up 3-2 at 5:16 of the second period on a deflection of Ivan Provorov’s shot from the left point.

“We're trusting our systems and we're staying within our structure,” Fantilli said. “When we play that way and play fast in our structure and play disciplined, I think that's when we play our best and games like tonight happen.”

Jenner extended it to 4-2 at 8:54 on the power play, tipping a shot from Werenski.

“It’s no secret we’ve been struggling to find a way to win these games this year,” Laine said. “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.”

NOTES: Korpisalo played against the Blue Jackets for the first time since being traded to the Los Angeles Kings on March 1, 2023; he signed a five-year, $20 million contract with the Senators on July 1. He was 87-78-24 in 210 games with Columbus since his debut in 2015. … Chabot had an assist and led all players with 26:41 of ice time in his return. … Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson had a shot and a blocked shot in 12:31 in his first game since being recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League on Thursday; the No. 5 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft last played for Columbus on Nov. 2. …. Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger missed the game with an upper-body injury sustained against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday; he is day to day. … Columbus has scored 28 goals in the first period this season to tie the Tampa Bay Lightning for second-most in the NHL behind the Edmonton Oilers (32).