Ottawa Senators score a pivotal win over the Columbus Blue Jackets

Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson, right, celebrates with centre Shane Pinto, left, after scoring a second-period goal against the Blue Jackets. It turned out to be the game-winner in the National Hockey League game on Saturday, March 29. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick /The Canadian PressArticle content

SENATORS 3, JACKETS 2

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It was a Saturday night special for the Ottawa Senators.

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There doesn’t appear to be any stopping the Senators from making the National Hockey League playoffs now after they scored a key 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in front of 17,758 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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Trying to make the post-season for the first time, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig scored for the Senators while Linus Ullmark scored his second straight win in net.

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The Senators moved closer to clinching an Eastern Conference playoff spot for the first time in eight years by withstanding a strong third-period effort by the Blue Jackets.

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“That was a tight game through-and through,” said Sanderson

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Columbus goalie Daniil Tarasov did a solid job of keeping his club in the game because, for 50 minutes, the Senators controlled the play, but then Kirill Marchenko closed the gap to one goal.

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He fired a wrist shot by Ullmark from the slot at 11:02 of the third period, and that made the whole building nervous as it came just seconds after the faithful were chanting that they wanted to see the playoffs this spring.

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“We’re learning to play better with a lead and tonight was a good example of that,” Sanderson added. “I’ve felt like in the past we haven’t played great with the lead, but we’re getting better at it.”

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Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot (72) and the Blue Jackets’ Dmitri Voronkov (10) battle for the puck in front of goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick /The Canadian PressArticle content

ELECTRIC AVENUE

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The atmosphere at the rink has a playoff feel.

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The building is electric and the fan base is anxious to host post-season games for the first time since 2017. Every moment feels like it’s pivotal, and with eight of the last 10 regular-season contests at home, that’s what the Senators want.

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“It felt close to a playoff game. The crowd was awesome and I thought our details were sharp,” coach Travis Green said. “It was a good effort. I thought our energy was sharp, and our details were good.”

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They held a two-goal lead heading to the third period on Saturday night. At that point, they had outshot the Blue Jackets 20-16 and were displaying the kind of desperation needed at this time of the season.

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Ottawa’s Shane Pinto picked up two assists in his 200th career game. Sanderson did a good job of going to the net and the rebound of a shot by Pinto bounced off Sanderson and into the net for a 3-1 lead at 9:17 of the second period.

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That was Sanderson’s 20th point in 21 games, and his fifth goal since Feb. 1. The assist was Pinto’s 100th career point.

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LEAVE THEM BEHIND

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The Blue Jackets are one of the teams battling for the final two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference and came into this game six points behind Ottawa, which held the first wild-card position with a chance to widen the gap in the first of three contests against Columbus in the final 11 games of the season.