Gustavsson, Senators defeat Blue Jackets in shootout

COLUMBUS -- The Ottawa Senators rallied to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in a shootout at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Tim Stutzle
scored in the third round for the lone goal of the shootout.
Brady Tkachuk scored in the third period, and
Filip Gustavsson
made 33 saves for the Senators (30-41-7).
"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.
Ottawa is 4-1-1 in its past six games, including a 4-3 shootout win at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
"As the game went on, I thought we got a little hungrier," Senators coach D.J. Smith. "It was a pretty even game both ways. We just found a way to win."
Jack Roslovic scored, and Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves for the Blue Jackets (35-36-7), who have lost four in a row.
"It's two young teams trying to battle at it," Roslovic said. "I'm not sure they were the better team tonight."
Roslovic gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 11:20 of the first period, scoring on a wrist shot off a pass from Cole Sillinger on the power play. He has scored eight goals in his past six games.

"We had some looks," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "We were hoping to cash in in the second when we missed the net. We had some looks early in the third. We just couldn't get the next one."
Parker Kelly appeared to tie it for the Senators at 9:59 of the second period, but the Blue Jackets challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
However, Tkachuk tied it 1-1 at 7:06 of the third period off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Josh Norris and Drake Batherson.

Tkachuk has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past 11 games.
"It was an ugly game, to be honest with you," Senators defenseman Michael Del Zotto said. "They had a great forecheck. We weren't able to exit our zone, cleanly or efficiently. We allowed them to sustain those zone times and we weren't able to have much time in overtime, and [Gustavsson] obviously helped us in there with some big saves."
NOTES: Tkachuk has at least one point against each of the 31 NHL teams in his career. … Gustavsson made his second straight start. Anton Forsberg is expected to start against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, which would be his 100th in the NHL. … Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and forward Patrik Laine missed their second and third straight games, respectively, because of an upper-body injury. … Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson, who was playing in his fifth game, had an assist.