OTTAWA — Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves as Matt Duchene and the Columbus Blue Jackets blanked the Ottawa Senators 3-0 on Friday.
Duchene was held pointless in his Blue Jackets debut hours after he was dealt to Columbus from Ottawa.
Josh Anderson, Cam Atkinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the Blue Jackets (34-23-3), who halted a two-game losing skid.
Atkinson gave the Jackets some breathing room as he scored on a short-handed breakaway at 6:45 of the third period to take a 2-0 lead. Bjorkstrand put the game out of reach at 17:14
Craig Anderson made 37 saves in the Ottawa (22-34-5) goal. It was the second-straight shutout loss for the Senators and third overall.
The Senators have now gone 125 minutes and 17 seconds without a goal. They scored seven in an 8-7 loss to Chicago last Monday, which, coincidentally, was the last game they had Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel in their lineup. The trio has scored 77 of the Senators’ 186 goals this season.
Duchene received an ovation from the crowd when he was introduced in the starting line-up. He was then mildly booed when he touched the puck during his second shift of the game, and again applauded during a short video tribute.
The Blue Jackets had the only goal through 40 minutes of the game but the main reason for that was the play of Craig Anderson, who kept a tight game from turning into a blowout.
The Blue Jackets had the game’s first four power plays and directed seven shots at Craig Anderson, who stopped them all.
Columbus did get on the board at 14:43 of the first period when Josh Anderson put a one-timer from the face-off circle behind Craig Anderson following a pass from the corner by Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The second period was scoreless as Craig Anderson turned aside all 17 Columbus shots, including a short-handed breakaway by Boone Jenner.
Notes: Ryan Dzingel and Mark Stone were scratches for the Senators while Adam Clendening, Alexander Wennberg and Lukas Sedlak were scratched for the Blue Jackets…The Senators returned LW Darren Archibald and D Cody Goloubef to the AHL Belleville Senators and recalled RW Drake Batherson and C Logan Brown Friday…Jackets winger Artemi Panarin played his 300th career game…The Senators next see action when the host the Calgary Flames Sunday. The Jackets host the San Jose Sharks Saturday night.
Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press