We made it. It's playoff time, everyone.
The Columbus Blue Jackets rounded out their 2018-2019 regular season with a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
And with the Philadelphia Flyers loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Blue Jackets are set to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs next week.
About tonight, though - the Blue Jackets started off hot, and were able to coast the rest of the game to cap off the season, and a terrific run to get them into the playoffs. The club won seven of their final eight games and is headed into the postseason seemingly a lot more ready than in seasons past.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Jackets | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Senators | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Pierre-Luc Dubois set the pace for the Blue Jackets with two goals in the first period. His first came just 3:39 into the game off a no-look dish from Artemi Panarin.
Dubois goes up top to get the party going.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/GpZygeAHsh
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 6, 2019
Markus Nutivaara then took a slick feed from Oliver Bjorkstrand and put it home for his fifth goal of the season, after Bjorkstrand undressed his defender.
Ope - sorry, just gonna slip on by ya there.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/gIJJQlzFej
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 6, 2019
Dubois then slammed (or ricochet'd) his 27th of the season into the net, which essentially let everyone know the what the outcome of the game would be.
Just a very practical goal.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/eUlkM1odNh
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 6, 2019
The Senators battled back at times, scoring halfway through the second to cut the lead to 3-1. Then along came Alexandre Texier, recent call-up and top Blue Jackets prospect, who got the first goal of his NHL career to give his club a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Alexandre Texier was *this* close to his first NHL goal.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/0agYyynbN9
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 7, 2019
Shortly after the Senators cut the lead again to two goals, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his eighth goal in his last nine games, and Riley Nash scored an empty-netter to give us a final score of 6-2.
Bjorkstrand is hot heading into the postseason.#CBJ pic.twitter.com/HtmFsjh6gG
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) April 7, 2019
INJURY UPDATE
Defenseman Ryan Murray missed his 23rd game in a row with an upper body injury. Fellow blueliner Adam McQuaid is day-to-day with what's believed to be a concussion suffered against Montreal last week.
NEXT UP
The Blue Jackets' next game will be against the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs next week, in Tampa Bay.
