Blue Jackets top Senators on Werenski's late goal

COLUMBUS --Zach Werenski scored his second goal of the game with 2:01 remaining, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3 at Nationwide Arena on Monday.

Werenski made it 4-3 with a redirection in front off a pass from Cam Atkinson, who scored an empty-net goal at 19:00 to make it 5-3. Josh Anderson scored into an empty net 34 seconds later to make it 6-3.
"I saw Pierre-Luc Dubois] with the puck there," Werenski said. "I was hoping he would pass to me actually at the start, then he left it for Cam and no one took me to the net. He made a great pass right to my tape and it found its way in."
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Dubois had an NHL career-high four points (two goals, two assists), Atkinson had a goal and two assists and Artemi Panarin had two assists for the Blue Jackets (23-13-3), who have won six of their past seven games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves.

"We didn't play perfect. Neither did they," Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones said. "It got kind of wide open there for a bit. All that matters is we got the win. We got some nice goals, some timely plays when we needed them."
Ryan Dzingel scored two goals, Bobby Ryan had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Hogberg made 32 saves in his second NHL start for the Senators (15-21-4), who have lost five straight.
"You're in them, you're giving yourself a chance," Ryan said. "You can see our third periods are letting us down. It's the same old script."
Dzingel finished a tic-tac-toe sequence at the right post to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 8:15 of the second period.
Werenski tied it 1-1 at 9:36 with a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Panarin.

Dubois made it 2-1 at 3:59 of the third period, poking in a rebound in the crease after Jones' initial shot was redirected by Atkinson off the right post.
Dubois extended the lead to 3-1 at 11:15 when his shot deflected in off the skate of Senators defenseman Cody Ceci.
"I was just throwing it to the net," Dubois said. "It was a lucky play. [Lukas Sedlak] made a nice play to keep it in on the forecheck and it was batted to me."
Ryan scored 21 seconds later to cut it to 3-2. Mark Borowiecki's initial shot deflected off Ryan before bouncing in off the shin of Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard.
"We traded fluky goals there," Ryan said.
Dzingel tied it 3-3 at 13:34, scoring off a backdoor pass from Matt Duchene at the right post.

"We're really not getting the job at all lately," Dzingel said. "We were too lackadaisical in some areas. It's going to cost you, especially against this team at home for sure.
"You can be positive all you want, but you have to have results. That's how this business is."
Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno did not play so he could be with his 5-year-old daughter, Milana, for a scheduled procedure in Boston. Milana was born with a congenital heart defect.
"I called him right after the game," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "He's going to spend the night with his daughter in her room. She's in some pain but she's doing really well. The Folignos are really happy how it's gone, but now there's a recovery period. … He wanted to talk hockey. There was no hockey talk with me."

They said it

"We had a solid, 60-minute effort in a place that's really tough to play. The players all played hard. It's a tough one to swallow because I think we deserved at least one point."-- Senators coach Guy Boucher
"He's at his best jumping into plays, making things happen, anticipating plays offensively and skating. You saw all that tonight. The full arsenal, the full combination what makes him so special."-- Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones on Zach Werenski

Need to know

Duchene is one assist shy of 300 in his NHL career. … Atkinson has eight points (five goals, three assists) in the past six games. … Dubois has nine points (three goals, six assists) in the past six games. … Werenski has six points (four goals, two assists) in a five-game point streak. … Panarin has nine points (three goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak. … Columbus' five goals in the third period tied its record for a single period. It had been done twice previously, most recently in the second period against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 4, 2016 (10-0 win).

What's next

Senators: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, SN360, TVAS, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-O, NHL.TV)