Tim Stützle scored in the shootout to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night for their second straight shootout victory on the road.
“It felt like a little bit of a slow game, the two first periods, like we didn’t really play our best game, offensively,” Gustavsson said. “Then we did pretty good in the third period, and we came out of it with the win.”
Jack Roslovic had Columbus’ goal and Elvis Merzlikins had 25 saves in the Blue Jackets’ fourth straight loss (0-3-1).
WATCH l Stützle nets SO winner as Sens edge Blue Jackets:
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Tim Stutzle scores the lone shootout goal in Ottawa’s 2-1 win over Columbus. 1:06
Roslovic put the Blue Jackets up 1-0 at 11:20 of the first, burying a tape-to-tape pass from Cole Sillinger from the right circle for his second power-play goal of the year.
“We had some looks,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “We just couldn’t get the next one.”
Tkachuk finally put the Senators on the board at 7:06 of the third off tic-tac-toe passing from Drake Batherson and Josh Norris that caught Merlikins looking. The goal was Tkachuk’s team-leading 61st point of the season.
“As the game went on, I thought we got a little hungrier,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “It was a pretty even game both ways. We just found a way to win.”
On point
With a goal against Columbus, Tkachuk has now recorded at least one point against each of the 31 NHL teams he has faced in his career.
Through 40 road games this season, he maintains the club lead with 31 points away from home.