KANATA, Ontario — Less than 24 hours after a frustrating meltdown in the third period in Toronto turned a close game into a 5-0 loss, the Blue Jackets’ pain continued Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre.
Kept off the scoreboard for the first two-plus periods, an early 2-0 deficit that led to goalie Daniil Tarasov being replaced by Elvis Merzlikins was more than enough for the Ottawa Senators to grind out a 4-0 victory. Adam Gaudette, Nicholas Matinpalo and David Perron gave Ottawa a 3-0 lead and Shane Pinto sealed it into an empty net late in the third.
Linus Ullmark made 29 saves for the shutout.
The loss was the third straight for the Blue Jackets (34-33-9), who haven’t scored a goal since captain Boone Jenner put them up 3-2 at 7:56 of the second period in a 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday at Nationwide Arena. That’s a span of 152:24 without a goal, allowing the Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs and Senators to score 13 consecutive goals against a goaltending combination of Merzlikins (11 goals allowed) and Tarasov (two goals allowed).
The loss to Ottawa drops the Blue Jackets even further out of the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference with just six games remaining — including a rematch against the Senators on Tuesday in Columbus. Starting the game, the Jackets were 11th in the conference standings in a tie with the Detroit Red Wings at 77 points each, but the New York Islanders moved past both to 78 points with a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are now closing in on the Blue Jackets with 74 points, while the Buffalo Sabres are five points back of them at 72 and just six points behind Columbus are the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers in the last two spots of the East standings.
The Blue Jackets are now 4-11-1 in 16 games since taking control of the first wild-card spot in their conference with a 5-3 victory over the Red Wings on March 1 at Ohio Stadium — a maddening plummet from a point when it felt like ...
