By The Canadian Press

Columbus Blue Jackets down Senators 4-1 after late arrival in Ottawa

Dec 29, 2025 | 9:02 PM

OTTAWA — Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 4-1 win over the host Ottawa Senators on Monday.

The Blue Jackets didn’t arrive in Ottawa until late afternoon because of mechanical issues with their plane. The start of the game was pushed back half an hour.

Denton Mateychuk, Boone Jenner and Kirill Marcheko scored, and Cole Sillinger and Charlie Coyle each had two assists for the Blue Jackets (17-15-6). Jet Greaves made 27 saves for the win.

Jake Sanderson scored for Ottawa (18-15-5) in the second period to halve a two-goal deficit, but third-period goals by Mateychuk and Marcheko sealed a third straight victory for Columbus.

Leevi Merilainen stopped 18 shots in Ottawa’s net in front of an announced 17,902 at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Jenner opened the scoring at 15:58 of the first period when he redirected a Sillinger shot inside the blue paint past Merilainen.

Severson gave the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the second period with a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Merilainen to the far post.

Sanderson scored for the Senators to cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:16 of the second period with a quick wrister for the faceoff dot that beat Greaves, also to the far post.

TAKEAWAYS

Blue Jackets: The team’s flight arrived in Ottawa around 4 p.m. and the players reached Canadian Tire Centre an hour later ahead of a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. Mechanical problems with their plane didn’t let the team depart Columbus on Sunday.

Senators: Played their first game after No. 1 netminder Linus Ullmark left the team on a leave of absence for personal reasons. Ullmark has a 14-8-5 record in 28 starts this season.

KEY MOMENT

The Blue Jackets scored early in both the second and third periods. A goal at 1:21 of the second and 1:55 of the third gave the Blue Jackets leads of 2-0 and 3-1 respectively.

KEY STAT

The Senators went 0-for-4 on the power play with just four shots.

UP NEXT

Blu Jackets: Host the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.

Senators: Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2025.

Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press