Linus Ullmark notches shutout as Senators roll past Blue Jackets

Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in his fourth shutout of the season and 12th of his 10-year NHL career, helping the Ottawa Senators to a 4-0 win against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday evening.

Ottawa has an NHL-leading 10 shutouts as a team this season.

Nikolas Matinpalo scored his first NHL goal, Adam Gaudette, David Perron and Shane Pinto also scored, and Thomas Chabot had two assists for the Senators (42-29-6, 90 points), who have won three in a row, outscoring their opponents 9-1.

Daniil Tarasov gave up two goals in the first 4:26 before he was replaced by Elvis Merzlikins, who finished with 22 saves for Columbus (34-33-9, 77 points). The Blue Jackets have lost three in a row, getting outscored 16-3.

Gaudette scored his first goal in 24 games to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:24 of the first period.

Gaudette received a pass at his own blue line from Chabot, skated through the neutral zone unchecked and then fired a wrist shot over Tarasov's right pad and under his blocker for his 17th goal of the season.

Matinpalo, playing in his 41st NHL game, made it 2-0 at 4:26.

Matinpalo was stationed in front of the net when he deflected Claude Giroux's wrist shot into Tarasov. The rebound came out to the side of the net, where Matinpalo backhanded the loose puck across the goal line.

Columbus did not have a shot on goal until 7:54 of the first period and was outshot 14-9 in the opening 20 minutes.

The Senators made it 3-0 at 4:32 of the third when Perron beat Merzlikins and Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski to a rebound in the crease and backhanded the puck into the net.

Pinto scored into an empty net with 41 seconds left to make it 4-0.

The Senators played their fourth straight game without leading goal-scorer and team captain Brady Tkachuk, who sustained an upper-body injury in a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30.

--Field Level Media