Groggy Blue Jackets Snap Four Game Win Streak With Loss To Senators

Sean Monahan(7) scored the only goal for the Blue Jackets, while Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves combined to make 17 saves in a 4-1 CBJ loss on Tuesday night. Merzlikins was removed from the game due to illness after the first period. According to HC Rick Bowness, they knew Merzlikins wasn't feeling well early on Tuesday but felt like he was good enough to go. Per Bowness, Merzlikins will be kept away from the team on Wednesday and will be re-evaluated on Thursday. 

The Blue Jackets started this game groggy and never woke up. 

Between the CBJ's slow start and the Senators' suffocating defense, the Jackets never really had a chance in this game. 

The second period was much better, and they actually controlled a lot of the play, but they couldn't get anything by Reimer. They ended up out-chancing the Sens 24-20, with 11 of those being high-danger chances, but again, they just couldn't solve the 37-year-old goalie. 

There'll be no rest for the Jackets, and the schedule won't get any easier as they welcome the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Head Coach Rick Bowness said they've already addressed the slow start from Tuesday night, will address it again tomorrow at practice, and hopefully see the results on Thursday. 

Team Notes Per CBJ PR

• Columbus (1-2-0) and Ottawa (2-1-0) concluded the season series with each team winning their respective road contests.
• The Blue Jackets had their four-game win streak snapped.  It was tied for the longest win streak this season (Oct. 25-Nov. 1).
• The club also had its four-game home points streak (3-0-1) snapped with the regulation loss to the Senators.
• The Jackets scored in the opening 10 minutes of the game for the second-straight contest with Monahan’s goal 7:46 into the first period.  The team has scored in the first 10 minutes in five of the last seven outings

Quotes From Rick Bowness

• On Elvis playing sick - "But he wanted to give it a go. He said he felt a little bit better...We'll keep him away from the team tomorrow. We'll worry about Thursday on Thursday. I give him credit for trying to play. He's a fighter."
• On trying to be cute in the slot instead of shooting - "We had two guys wide open in the slot trying to make a play. I don't understand that, right? I don't. You're in the slot, and you're looking to make a backdoor play to your partner? Get that out of our game. Shoot the damn thing."
• "If you look at the whole 60 minutes, it's probably an evenly played game. Our slow start really hurt us. So that's been addressed already, and we'll continue to address that because I hate slow starts. I hate it."
• "It's a good group. I still don't believe they know how good they can be. You become good when you put some bite & nastiness in your game & when the puck drops, you're ready to go. So, we'll develop that. If that's what we have to do, that's what we'll do."

Final Stats

Player Stats

• Sean Monahan scored his 7th goal and had two shots. He scored his first goals since Jan. 6. He has now collected 8-12-20 in 33 career games against the Senators, with 2-4-6 in his last 10 games overall.
• Boone Jenner picked up his 17th assist and was a plus-1. Jenner has collected an assist and has picked up 1-3-4 in his last four games played. He improved to 11-6-17 in 29 career contests against Ottawa, including points in all three games of the 2025-26 series (2-2-4). He has also notched points in eight of his last 10 contests (7-2-9).
• Kent Johnson recorded his 10th assist and was a plus-1. He had the secondary assist on Monahan’s goal and has 1-2-3 in his last three games. He also improved his career mark to 1-6-7 in 12 matchups against the Senators.
• Adam Fantilli had 3 shots and was 7/17 on his faceoffs.

Team Stats

• The Jackets power play went 0/3.
• The Columbus PK stopped all three Ottawa power plays.
• Columbus won 40.4% of the faceoffs - 21/52
• The Blue Jackets had 27 hits.

Up Next: Columbus is back at home on Thursday to play the Dallas Stars. 

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