Senators face Blue Jackets, aim to continue pursuit of playoffs

The Ottawa Senators can take another step toward ending a long playoff drought when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday in the finale of a four-game homestand.

The Senators inched closer to their first playoff spot since 2017 after blanking the visiting Florida Panthers 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Those in attendance at Canadian Tire Centre also stated their desires, chanting "We want playoffs" throughout the game.

"I've never seen the buzz like this," Senators forward Drake Batherson said. "It creates momentum for our group."

Ottawa (41-29-6, 88 points) has won two games in a row, limiting the opposition to a combined one goal. The Senators are just four points behind the struggling Panthers for third place in the Atlantic Division but hold the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

The Senators will need to continue getting by without leading goal scorer and team captain Brady Tkachuk. He has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Ryan Graves of the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 1-0 loss last Sunday.

Linus Ullmark is expected to start in goal on Sunday after Anton Forsberg made 40 saves in Saturday's shutout.

Ullmark made 28 saves in a 3-2 win against Columbus on March 29.

"We've got a group -- I've said it since I've got the job -- that really wants to win badly," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "Everyone says they want to win, but you've got to be committed to make changes to win. We've got guys that have shown they are just that."

The Blue Jackets have seen their playoff hopes take a hit in the past two games.

They surrendered the final five goals in a 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, and the only five goals in a 5-0 setback to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The latest loss dropped Columbus six points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets have seven games left, while the Canadiens have six.

Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson said there's no tension building in the locker room.

"We're the same team when it was going well, we're the same team now," he said. "This is a great group of guys, a lot of character in this room, and we're working towards a goal and sometimes you have disagreements, but we all love each other in here. It's not any different."

Columbus (34-32-9, 77 points) got off to a good start in each of its past two games before unraveling down the stretch.

"We have to figure out how we're going to turn that start into more of a positive direction than a negative one," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. "We'll focus on our start (Sunday) night again and, hopefully, it goes in the right direction and not as it did (Saturday) night."

Evason said it's up to the players and coaches to not get discouraged when they aren't rewarded for a good start.

"We've just got to stay with it," he said. "We've credited our leadership group all year to do that. We think they'll do it again."

--Field Level Media