In Ottawa, Elvis Merzlikins made 30 saves in the Columbus Blue Jackets4-1 win over the Senators on Wednesday.
Jack Roslovic hit for a double for the Blue Jackets.
“I’m trying to build that structured game and be able to make plays consistently,” Roslovic said. “Don’t turn the puck over, just make the right plays and be a good all-around player.
“The [previous] 15 games, I don’t think I’ve really had too much point production (seven points; two goals, five assists), but I just feel more patient with it, more calm. I feel like I’m developing all those skills that will boost me, and eventually the points and the stats will come.”
The Blue Jackets moved to 31-27-3.
“It was kind of a weird game a little bit,” Columbus’ Zach Werenski said. “I thought we played well in the first. It’s a tie game after, but I thought we were patient. Elvis made some really big saves. We found some ways to score and to get a lead, and then we played with that lead I thought pretty well in front of [Merzlikins]. The puck was bouncing a lot tonight. Just a weird game. It felt weird out there.”
Tyler Ennis was the lone striker for the Sens.
“We’re not scoring. That’s the biggest issue,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “You have to score at least three goals in this league if you want to win a game. You can blame your goalie, [defense], whatever you want to blame. If you don’t score three goals, you’re not going to win usually.”
The Senators fell to 21-34-5.
The Blue Jackets’ Eric Robinson put Columbus ahead, 2-1, in the second period.
“When you’re behind the net like that, you can kind of see the whole ice, see the whole play develop,” Werenski said. “I saw it coming and I was hoping [Robinson] was thinking the same thing I was. He’s so fast, it’s hard to catch him. It’s always fun when you can make plays like that.”
Sean Kuraly hit an empty-net goal at 18:23 for the 4-1 final.
“You’ve got to learn how to play with a lead,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “In the third period there, they’re going to make their push, they’re going to get some chances, but I thought we did a good job of minimizing the Grade-A chances, doing a good job in front of Elvis. And he made some saves at key times for us.”
Anton Forsberg made 35 saves in the Ottawa loss.
“I think, for us, we’re still a young team, but we’re getting to a point where when we’re up in games we can’t be turning pucks over,” the Senators’ Colin White said. “We’ve got to put it deep. I think we’re still a pretty positive team, but the goals aren’t coming, and it gets frustrating. I think we just need to keep coming to the rink and working hard and stick together to get through it.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.