Forsberg makes 35 saves, Senators defeat Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS --Anton Forsberg made 35 saves for the Ottawa Senators in a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Sunday.

Forsberg went 1-8-0 with a 4.02 goals-against average in 10 NHL games (nine starts) for the Blue Jackets from 2014-17 after being selected by them in the seventh round (No. 188) of the 2011 NHL Draft.
"It was nice to get back here, and obviously it's the team that drafted me," Forsberg said. "I spent my first pro years here. A lot of friends on the team. … It feels real nice in a lot of different ways. I spent a lot of time in this organization."
Tim Stutzle
scored the go-ahead goal in the second period for the Senators (12-20-3), who ended a three-game skid (0-2-1). They lost 3-2 in overtime at the Washington Capitals on Saturday after holding a two-goal lead.
"We were calmer. We gave up fewer chances," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "They were pushing, but we just took care of the inside of the ice, especially in our zone. … The first period, it looked like Columbus was really skating and we weren't, but we hung on and got some timely goals and we found a way to check ourselves to a big win."

Sean Kuraly scored, and Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets (18-20-1).
"We had some looks, a couple of breakaways and didn't capitalize," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "I thought it was a fairly even game. They had their looks, we had our looks. They just got the extra one."
Artem Zub scored with a shot from the point that found its way through traffic at 7:59 of the first period to give the Senators a 1-0 lead.
Kuraly tied it 1-1 with 34 seconds left in the first on redirection of a pass from Jakub Voracek.
Forsberg made 13 saves in the first period, including two against Boone Jenner during the Blue Jackets' second power play.
"He played well," Kuraly said. "We wanted to challenge him a little bit more than we did. He made the saves he needed to make."

Stutzle scored at 16:02 of the second period with a backhand that he tucked inside the right post after taking a pass in the neutral zone from Alex Formenton and skating around Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski for the 2-1 final.
"A great play by [Formenton] to get it to me in the middle," Stutzle said. "A great stretch by [Drake Batherson] opened everything up for me. The guy was kind of cheating on him, then I had a quick movement to the goal."
Forsberg preserved the lead when he made a save on Vladislav Gavrikov's shorthanded shot on a rush with Eric Robinson at 18:06.
He made 10 saves in the third period.
"For one goal, we had a lot of scoring chances," Voracek said. "Sometimes you have games like that."
NOTES:Formenton has an assist in three straight games and has scored nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Jenner had his six-game point streak end. It tied his NHL career-long streak from March 8-19, 2018. … Gavrikov, a defenseman, and Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger returned from NHL COVID-19 protocol. Gavrikov had four shots and three hits in 19:07; Sillinger played 12:26 and had two shots on goal.