Olivier and Danforth lead Blue Jackets to 5-2 win over Senators to snap three-game skid
Columbus Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins knocks the puck away from Ottawa Senators' Matthew Highmore during the first period. The Blue Jackets won 5-2 on April 8, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. Jay LaPrete/The Canadian Press
Mathieu Olivier and Justin Danforth each had a goal and an assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan and Adam Fantilli also scored for Columbus, and Kent Johnson had two assists. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 33 shots to help the Blue Jackets snap a three-game skid and get their second win in six games.
Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist, and Fabian Zetterlund also scored for Ottawa, which clinched its first playoff berth since 2017 when Montreal beat Detroit. Anton Forsberg had 30 saves for the Senators, who had won three straight.
Zetterlund pulled the Senators to 2-1 with a power-play goal with 3:42 left in the second period.
However, Olivier restored Columbus' two-goal lead with 22 seconds remaining in the middle period as Danforth's pass in front deflected off his left skate and past Forsberg.
Monahan pushed the lead to 4-1 at 2:37 of the third with a power-play goal. The Blue Jackets came in 3 for 36 with the man-advantage over their previous 12 games and went x for x against the Senators.
Fantilli and Chabot traded goals 3 1/2 minutes apart down the stretch.
Voronkov got the Blue Jackets on the scoreboard 7 minutes into the game as Mathieu Olivier's pass toward the middle from the right side behind the goal-line deflected to him in the slot. It was Columbus' first goal in three games.
Danforth made it 2-0 with 3:22 left in the first as he brought the puck across the blue line, skated toward the middle, and beat Forsberg from between the circles.
Senators: Ottawa leads Montreal by three points for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference and fell four points behind Florida for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Blue Jackets: Columbus defenceman Erik Gudbranson played in his 800th game
Ottawa's Drake Batherson skated toward the middle in front of Merzlikins and fired a shot the goalie snared with a Columbus player in front of him to keep the Senators off the scoreboard 5:00 into the second period.
Voronkov's goal ended Columbus' scoreless streak at 159:04. The Blue Jackets were blanked 5-0 at Toronto on Saturday, and 4-0 at Ottawa on Sunday.
Senators host Montreal on Friday to open a season-ending four-game homestand, and Blue Jackets host Buffalo on Thursday.
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