When the Ottawa Senators headed to Ohio's capital for a clash against the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was the third meeting in 10 days between the two teams.
Defeating the Blue Jackets in the first two meetings of the season grew the confidence more of clinching a playoff spot, but the third time was the charm for the Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets defeated the Senators 5-2 at Nationwide Arena. With the loss, the Senators fell to 42-30-6 on the season.
Also with the loss, the Senators finished 18-19-4 on the road this season. An improvement from last season's 16 road wins, but the final road game this season went ugly.
2. Monkey off the back in the Sweet 16
On March 7, the Senators acquired Fabian Zetterlund in a trade with the San Jose Sharks. Zetterlund saw some struggles with the Senators with recording just two assists in 15 games into his Senators tenure. It would take until his 16th game to record a first.
WIth the Senators trailing 2-0 late in the second period, Zetterlund scored a powerplay goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. Zetterlund at last scored his first goal as a Senator since being traded over.
Got the monkey off the back and we've one goal game! 🐒#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/9oTMMWzU0Z
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 9, 2025
The unfortunate part though, Zetterlund's goal would quickly be forgotten about with Columbus responding.
1. Wrong goaltender started
For the past two games, Anton Forsberg and Linus Ullmark each recorded a shutout, but against the Blue Jackets on Sunday, it was Ullmark who recorded a 29-save shutout against the Blue Jackets.
Ullmark was 2-0-0 against the Blue Jackets with making 57 saves combined in the two starts. Instead of keeping Ullmark in with his success against the Blue Jackets, Travis Green opted to start Forsberg. It came back to bite Green.
After Zetterlund scored to cut the Senators deficit to 2-1, Mathieu Olivier scored 3:20 later to put the Blue Jackets back up by two with under 22 seconds remaining. Then 2:37 into the third period, Sean Monahan scored a powerplay goal to make it 4-1 Blue Jackets.
Sean Monahan converts on the power play! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1aOZgpLEoE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2025
After allowing in one goal over his past two starts, Forsberg allowed in five goals in a game for the first time this season.
The Senators will return to action on Friday night when they host the Montreal Canadiens to close out their final four home games of the season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
The Canadiens have defeated the Senators in all three meetings this season. The last meeting was a 6-3 Canadiens victory in Montreal on March 18. Five different Canadiens recorded a multi-point game in the Montreal win.