Bjorkstrand Lifts Blue Jackets to 1-0 Win over Senators

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Oliver Bjorkstrand scored 21 seconds into the third period and Joonas Korpisalo earned his second career shutout, lifting the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.

The win was the fourth in five games for the Blue Jackets (10-9-4) and it marked their fourth straight at home over Ottawa.

Korpisalo stopped 25 shots in his 10th victory. Craig Anderson made 18 saves for the Senators (11-12-1), who had won four in a row.

It was nearly three minutes into the game before Columbus took a shot, and the Blue Jackets put just eight pucks on net through 30 minutes of play.

They finally found their stride at the start of the third period when Zach Werenski threw the puck toward the net from the blue line and it was tipped in by Bjorkstrand for his sixth goal of the season, extending his point streak to four games.

Columbus Blue Jackets Oliver Bjorkstrand
Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Werenski’s assist pushed his point streak to seven games, and Boone Jenner’s assist was the 100th of his career.

Ottawa’s best scoring chance came when Connor Brown got a 1-on-1 with Korpisalo at 8:36 of the third, but could not beat him.

NOTES

Ottawa’s Mikkel Boedker played for the first time after being a healthy scratch in nine straight games dating back to Nov. 5. … Anthony Duclair played his first game in Columbus after being traded last February. … The Blue Jackets have scored first in eight straight games. … Ottawa went 0 for 3 with the man advantage and remains last in the NHL with eight power-play goals in 83 chances.

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Nicole Kraft, The Associated Press