In Ottawa, Tim Stutzle hit for a double for the Senators i a 5-2 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday,.
“Credit to our guys for dragging this group along when we were down and out, essentially,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “What they’ve done here of late and what they did to stay afloat in December and January (16-10-2), our core group of guys obviously believe in each other, and obviously, there is a buzz but there’s still lots of track left here.”
Cam Talbot made 19 saves in the Senators win.
Ottawa improved to 32-26-4.
Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic were the strikers for the Blue Jackets.
“[Ottawa is] fighting for something, you know?” Roslovic said. “Those are the games we should love to be in. It was awesome seeing those guys come out as hard as they did, honestly. It’s a great thing for us to take in and learn. It’s the way we’ve got to learn how to play sooner rather than later.”
Travis Hamonic scored in the first period to give the Sens a 1-0 lead, but Roslovic tied it just 18 seconds later, 1-1.
Stutzle restored the Senators lead, 2-1, at 11:18 of the first.
“It feels pretty good,” Stutzle said. “Especially [because] my first couple years I didn’t really finish that well. It feels pretty good right now. I’m really confident in the way I’m playing.”
In the middle frame, Hamonic made it 3-1 to the Senators, and Jacob Chychrun scored 48 seconds later for a 4-1 advantage to Ottawa.
“That was a lot of fun,” Chychrun said. “The boys played a pretty good game and the crowd was into it. We got the win. I don’t know if any game is perfect, but it was pretty darn close.”
Laine trimmed the lead to 4-2 with 11 minutes gone in the second period.
You can’t expect to win against anyone with that kind of game that we played today,” Laine said.
Stutzle hit on a shorthanded breakaway in trhe third period for the 5-2 final.
“It kind of gave me chills, to be honest,” Stutzle said. “It was so loud and it was awesome. We’re playing great right now and hope to keep it going.”
Elvis Merzlikins got the start for the Blue Jackets and 19 saves, surrendering four goals before getting the hook early in the middle frame.
“We talked about it before the game that they were going to come hard, and I have no clue how we were still surprised how hard they came, especially in the beginning. And they kept coming at us the whole game,” Laine said. “We were just sleeping, just sleeping for 60 minutes.”
Michael Hutchinson made 15 saves in relief.
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