Nutivaara’s second-period goal lifts Columbus past Ottawa
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just three games back after an injury that sidelined him for nearly a month, Markus Nutivaara played in place of injured star Seth Jones on the power-play unit. His second-period goal ended up being the game-winner for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nutivaara scored his first goal since Jan. 23, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots, and the surging Blue Jackets outlasted the Ottawa Senators 2-1 Saturday night for their season-high seventh straight win.
“Jonesy is definitely a key guy, so you can see we miss him,” said Bobrovsky, who picked up his 32nd win of the season. “But still we have depth on defence. Guys were smart, Nuti stepped up tonight and made a huge goal.”
The Blue Jackets are holding on to the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 83 points, tied with Philadelphia and one point ahead of New Jersey. Bobrovksy said the team is loose and playing as well as ever.