Blue Jackets rally past Senators for 4-2 win

In Columbus, the Blue Jackets fell behind early on Friday night, 2-+0, to the visiting Ottawa Senators.

Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk hit for first period goals to stake the Senators to the 2-0 advantage.

The Blue Jackets replied with four straight goals to rally and take 4-2 win.

Elvis Merzlikins made 41 saves in the Columbus win.

“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.”

The Blue Jackets improved to 8-13-4.

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

Giroux scored at 8:43 to stake the Senators to a 1-0 lead, Tkachuk hit at 11:08 for the 2-0 advantage.

Th3 Blue Jackets rallied back with Patrik Laine trimming the deficit to 2-1 of a power play marker at at 14:53 of the first.

“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.”

Just 43 seconds later, Dmitri Voronkov scored to tie it, 2-2.later

“I honestly believe we deserved better,” the Senators’ Thomas Chabot, said. “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.”

Ottawa dropped to 8-10-0.

“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.”

In the middle frame, the Blue Jackets continued their rally with a pair of strikes.

Columbus took the lad, 3-2, on a strike from Adam Fantilli at 5:16 of the second.

“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.”

Boone Jenner pushed the lad out to 4-2 with a power play marker at 8:54.