OTT 4, CBJ 0: Tarasov Chased After Two Quick Goals, Senators Roll Past Blue Jackets

By Will Chase on April 6, 2025 at 7:48 pm
Ottawa Senators defenseman Nikolas Martinpalo (33) scores against Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov (40) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre.
© Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
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An all too familiar result.

  1 2 3 F
CBJ 0 0 0 0
TOR 2 0 2 4

CBJ GOALS: 
None

Linus Ullmark stopped all 30 shots he faced to pick up his fourth shutout of the season, and Nikolas Matinpalo scored the first NHL goal of his career as the Ottawa Senators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre.

Ullmark has won five of his last six starts. The Senators have won three straight while Columbus has dropped three in a row.

While Columbus came off a 5-0 loss on Saturday to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, the Senators defeated the Florida Panthers 3-0 on home ice.

Daniil Tarasov last played in relief on Thursday of a 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche and made his last start in Ottawa on Saturday, March 29, a 3-2 loss. His day on Sunday was short-lived as he allowed two goals on six shots and was pulled for Merzlikins. Merzlikins made 22 saves.

Damon Severson was a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game. Yegor Chinakhov was in the lineup in place of Zach Aston-Reese. Brady Tkachuk missed the game with an upper-body injury.

Here's how the second of the Blue Jackets' weekend back-to-back culminated on Sunday evening:


1st Period:

(2:24 — OTT Goal): Adam Gaudette and the Senators wasted no time getting on the board first, as Gaudette broke a 12-game pointless drought for his 17th goal. Thomas Chabot (31) earned the assist.

(4:26 — OTT Goal): Matinpalo scored his first career NHL goal when he cleaned up a juicy rebound left by Tarasov. Matinpalo had one assist in 36 games this season. Claude Giroux (33) and Fabian Zetterlund (21) picked up the assists.

(4:26 — Goaltender Change): Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The Blue Jackets were the last team to make an in-game goalie change when head coach Dean Evason brought Tarasov in for Merzlikins in Thursday's loss to the Avalanche. After two goals allowed by Tarasov in the first 4:26, Evason did it again, bringing Merzlikins in early.

2nd Period:

There was no scoring in the second period. The Blue Jackets killed a 5-on-3 power play as the Senators entered Sunday with the seventh-best power play on home ice (27.6%).

3rd Period:

(4:26 — OTT Goal): David Perron's ninth of the season bounced off Merzlikins and past the goalie for the Senators' third goal of the game to take a 3-0 lead. Drake Batherson (39) and Chabot (32) assisted.

(19:19 — OTT Goal): Shane Pinto's 18th of the season came with the net empty as the Senators won 4-0. Jake Sanderson added his 43rd assist.

The Blue Jackets' line of Kent Johnson, Sean Monahan, and Boone Jenner generated the most offensive chances for the Jackets in this game. The line of Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Fantilli, and Kirill Marchenko registered 0.68 xGF.

  TOI CF CA SF SA GF GA xGF xGA
Kent Johnson - Sean Monahan - Boone Jenner 14:37 25 11 11 7 0 0 0.69 0.2
Natural Stat Trick                  

CBJ GAME STATS OTT
30 SHOTS 30
43.4 FACEOFFS 56.6
0/0 POWER PLAY 0/3
3/3 PENALTY KILL 0/0
26 HITS 23
20 GIVEAWAYS 22
6 TAKEAWAYS 5
12 BLOCKED SHOTS 16
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
2.7 EXPECTED GOALS 3.23
62 SHOT ATTEMPTS 57
29 SCORING CHANCES 21
12 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 11
Data via NHL.com & NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • The Blue Jackets are 1-10-0 in the second of back-to-back games this season and 6-13-2 in back-to-back games overall.
  • They're 4-11-1 since the Stadium Series on March 1.
  • The Blue Jackets have scored first in 39 games this season, ranking 17th in the league. From the beginning of the season through March 1, they were first in the league when scoring first (37).
  • Columbus has been shut out six times since March 6 and has not scored since leading the Avalanche 3-2 in the second period on Thursday. They’re been outscored 13-0 in that span.
  • The Senators lead the league with 10 shutouts, tying a franchise record, and breaking a tie with the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets.

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets return home to Nationwide Arena looking for a win against these Senators with a 7 p.m. ET puck drop on Tuesday, April 8.

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