“Whenever you pull the goalie,” he said after the game, “it’s a couple of reasons, right? You think there’s a momentum shift that you can put for the guys and then maybe there’s some that you don’t think shouldn’t go in the net, but I think it was a little bit of both here tonight.”

The Blue Jackets were able to get on the board before the first intermission when Boone Jenner tipped in a shot in the crease. Jenner was back in the lineup after missing 14 games with an upper body injury suffered at Seattle on Nov. 11.

As would be the case more than once this night, Ottawa quickly responded, scoring with just 34 seconds left in the first to make it 4-1 and quell the shift in momentum toward the Blue Jackets. 

Columbus rebounded in the second period with goals from Dante Fabbro and Dmitri Voronkov to pull within one, 4-3. But again, the Senators put a halt to the rally when Tim Stützle scored with 2:01 left in the frame.

The Blue Jackets were unable to score in the third period and Ottawa added an empty-net goal late to post a 6-3 win.

Zach Werenski, who had two assists on the night, didn’t think the Blue Jackets played badly, but thought that they allowed too many easy scoring opportunities to the Senators.

“It’s just frustrating at moments like that,” he noted. “We’re not playing a bad game, but we’re allowing guys to get to the blue and get chances and have open looks. And, like I said, we don’t get those chances that often. It’s hard for us to get them. And it’s got to be hard for other teams to get those on us.”

The Blue Jackets don’t have to wait long to get back on the ice to try and snap their four-game losing streak. The Vegas Golden Knights come to Columbus Saturday for a game beginning at 7:00 p.m.