Tkachuk registers hat trick as Senators squash Blue Jackets 6-3
By Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press on February 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Brady Tkachuk’s second hat trick of his career helped propel the Ottawa Senators to a 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Two of Tkachuk’s goals came on the power play, while Claude Giroux got one short-handed to go along with two assists. Ridly Greig and Erik Brannstrom also scored for the Senators (22-25-2), who saw their win streak improve to four games. Anton Forsberg made 36 saves for the win. Dmitri Voronkov, Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic scored for the Blue Jackets (16-26-10), while Daniil Tarasov turned aside 24 of 29 shots. After scoring four goals in each of the first two periods, the only goal of the third was an empty-netter by Brannstrom at 19:52. The Blue Jackets opened the scoring thanks to a double-bank shot by Kent Johnson, whose centring pass hit Voronkov in the skate then deflected off the skate of Senators’ defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker and past Forsberg and in. Tkachuk then scored twice in a 48-second span, including one on the power play. His first came at 9:48 when Josh Norris fed him the puck at the side of a wide-open net. The second, at 10:36, was the result of Tkachuk scoring on his own rebound. The Senators then collected a short-handed goal as Giroux picked the top corner at 14:46 for a 3-1 lead. They appeared to go up 4-1 just 25 seconds later but after a coach’s challenge there was goaltender interference called. In the second period each team scored twice as Grieg and Tkachuk sandwiched their goals around the Jenner and Roslovic goals. Grieg gave the Senators a 4-1 lead at 5:37 then the two Columbus goals came at 10:49 and 13:54. Tkachuk completed his hat trick at 16:48 on the power play and the Senators took a 5-3 lead into the third period. NOTES Tuesday marked the second of three meetings this season between the two clubs. The Blue Jackets were 4-2 winners in Columbus on Dec. 1. They will meet again in Columbus on March 14 “¦ D Artem Zub and D Jake Sanderson were scratches for the Senators who played the game with just five defencemen. Scratches for the Blue Jackets were F Yegor Chinakhov, F Adam Fantilli and D Andrew Peeke “¦ The Senators finished 2-for-5 on the power play while the Blue Jackets were 0-for-5. UP NEXT Senators: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. Blue Jackets: Visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2024. 16-15
