Senators clinch playoff berth despite loss to Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS -- The Ottawa Senators clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016-17 despite losing 5-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.

Ottawa qualified with the Detroit Red Wings' 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The Senators are three points ahead of the Canadiens for the first wild card from the Eastern Conference.

“Wish it was coming off a win, but very excited for our team, our players, our fans, and proud of our players,” Senators coach Travis Green said. “They deserve to be in the playoffs this year. It's something that we talked about as a group really all summer, having a training camp, and where we wanted to be at this time of year.”

Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist, Fabian Zetterlund scored, and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves for the Senators (42-30-6), who had won three in a row.

Mathieu Olivier and Justin Danforth each had a goal and an assist, Kent Johnson had two assists, and Elvis Merzlikins made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets (35-33-9), who had been shut out in their previous two games, including a 4-0 loss at Ottawa on Sunday.

Columbus is eight points behind Montreal for the second wild card with five games remaining.

“There were so many people who contributed in so many different ways,” Danforth said. “I think we're a desperate team right now, and I think it showed early on.”

Dmitri Voronkov gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 7:00 of the first period, scoring with a one-timer from the high slot off a turnaround pass by Olivier from below the goal line.

Danforth made it 2-0 at 16:38. He skated into a backhand clearing attempt by Denton Mateychuk, toe-dragged Nikolas Matinpalo at the edge of the right circle, and roofed a shot glove side on Forsberg from the slot.

“They came out stronger than we did tonight,” Chabot said. “They played better than we did. You’ve got to give them credit. I mean, their season was on the line. They were obviously going to play as hard as they could, and do we wish we would have come out better? Yes, for sure. But I mean, at the end of the day, that's the game of hockey.”

Zetterlund cut it to 2-1 at 16:18 of the second period with a power-play goal. He put in the rebound of Claude Giroux's shot at the left post.

Olivier extended the lead to 3-1 at 19:38 when Danforth's redirection of Erik Gudbranson's initial shot deflected in off his left skate.

“We can't lose,” Olivier said. “So, you’ve just got to play like you can't lose pretty much until there's an E (eliminated) or an X (qualified for the playoffs) next to our name.

“I've said this before, until it's decided we have to play like we have a chance and obviously give ourselves the best chance to get in. So, tonight was a good first step until the end of the year.”

Sean Monahan made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 2:37 of the third period, scoring with a shot from the bottom of the right circle.

Adam Fantilli pushed it to 5-1 at 11:42, scoring his 25th goal of the season on a breakaway.

Chabot buried a rebound in front at 15:10 for the 5-2 final.

“We haven't scored, but the way that we've played is not poorly, but we didn't play with that little bite, that little extra edge that we had tonight, and we have to play like that the rest of the way,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “We have a chance. I mean, you guys know the numbers better than I do, and maybe we will talk about it tomorrow, but we're not mathematically eliminated, so we're going to play freaking hard every night.”

NOTES: Voronkov's goal was his goal since March 1 (17 games). It was also Columbus' first goal in 159:04 and ended the Senators’ shutout streak at 160:00. ... Gudbranson played in his 800th NHL game.