An all too familiar result.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 |
2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
|
CBJ GOALS: |
||||
Linus Ullmark stopped all 29 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.
Ottawa goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 6, 2025
Scored by Adam Gaudette with 17:36 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Thomas Chabot.
Ottawa: 1
Columbus: 0#CBJvsOTT #GoSensGo #CBJ pic.twitter.com/RUO60jPoyq
(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.
NIKOLAS MATINPALO HAS HIS FIRST CAREER NHL GOAL.
— SENS TALK (@senstalk_) April 6, 2025
HOW CAN YOU NOT BE EXCITED FOR THIS FELLA????
pic.twitter.com/muWZCwIuk4
(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.
In only two instances has a #CBJ goaltender been pulled from a start earlier that Tarasov's 4:26 hook today in Ottawa.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 6, 2025
Both involved Steve Mason: after 4:15 on 12/19/09 at Colorado, and after 4:25 on 12/13/10 at Calgary
"It's never one person's fault, and it obviously looks like that when a goaltender gets pulled, and I certainly don't want to do that," Evason said. "Both those goals were team goals. We made a decision to try something, and obviously it didn't work."
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.
DAVID PERRON MAKES IT 3-0! pic.twitter.com/DwawSrDPVe
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 6, 2025
#CBJ playing on both ends of the goal-scoring spectrum this season:
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 6, 2025
The Blue Jackets have scored 6+ goals in 14 games this season, most in the NHL. WASH (13) is 2nd.
Also, the Blue Jackets have been shut out 8 times, tied (w New Jersey) for 2nd-most in the NHL. NASH (10) leads.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boone Jenner - Sean Monahan - Kent Johnson | 14:37 | 25 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.69 | 0.2 |
| Natural Stat Trick |
| CBJ | GAME STATS | OTT |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | SHOTS | 30 |
| 43.4 | FACEOFFS | 56.6 |
| 0/0 | POWER PLAY | 0/3 |
| 3/3 | PENALTY KILL | 0/0 |
| 27 | HITS | 24 |
| 20 | GIVEAWAYS | 22 |
| 6 | TAKEAWAYS | 5 |
| 12 | BLOCKED SHOTS | 16 |
| ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS | ||
| 2.82 | EXPECTED GOALS | 3.23 |
| 63 | SHOT ATTEMPTS | 57 |
| 30 | SCORING CHANCES | 21 |
| 13 | 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.
