Nick Foligno snuck one behind Steve Mason at the side of the net with just over six minutes remaining in the third period to lift the Ottawa Senators to a hard-fought 2-1 home victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
Foligno took a Jesse Winchester pass behind the Columbus net on the power play and skated out front, his backhander squeezing between Mason and the left post.
Ottawa saved the best for last, scoring on the power play after missing their first three chances with the man advantage.
Foligno said it was good to get in the win column before heading out on a five-game road trip.
"We're trying to fine tune things here," the sophomore forward said. "We know on the road it has to be a simple game. I think the guys are looking forward to that challenge."
Foligno also played a part in Ottawa's first goal, screening Mason on Jason Spezza's second goal of the season. Spezza had just two assists to show for his last nine games.
"I feel like I want to produce more offensively," Spezza said. "It's a start for me and I felt better going in."
Ottawa (13-7-3) won for the fifth time in six games, in large part because of Brian Elliott. The goaltender foiled several strong Columbus chances en route to 32 saves.
Elliott and his teammates held the potent Columbus power play to a 1-for- 6 ledger, with Kristian Huselius scoring the goal. The Blue Jackets came in ranked second in the NHL on the power play.
Mason, dealing with the sophomore slump after an outstanding rookie campaign, was just about matching Elliott save-for-save until ceding the weak winner. He finished with 34 saves for Columbus (12-9-3).
"I thought both goalies played well," said Senators coach Cory Clouston. "It was a real good game. Both teams played hard and had a lot of chances."
Big forward Rick Nash was a force all night in Ottawa's end but could not beat Elliott on six shots. The Blue Jackets completed a five-game road trip with a 1-3-1 mark.
"It was a good road game until the third period," Nash said. "That's been the story of the road trip — we've been taking too many penalties in the third."
Elliott had luck on his side early on, as Columbus hit the goal post just over one minute into the game.
Nash went on a long rush through the Ottawa end in the first but couldn't get a clean shot off, in part because of a Filip Kuba hook. Nash at the end of the play collided into referee David Jackson, who had to be helped off with a right leg injury and did not return.
Kuba went to the box, but Ottawa was able to kill the penalty off, with Spezza just off-target with a short-handed chance.
Elliott, meanwhile, was forced to make a glove save on a Derick Brassard shot.
Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson gave old teammate Antoine Vermette a rude welcome in his first visit back to Scotiabank Place, clipping him with a high stick. The Blue Jackets quickly took advantage on the ensuing power play as R.J. Umberger pivoted in the slot to set up Huselius for his 10th of the season at the 17:41 mark.
Spezza got it back just 53 seconds later on a slapshot goal.
"He's been playing well," Foligno said. "It's just chances haven't gone in for him, and it was nice to see him get that one."
Spezza's goal was set up by effective work along the boards from Alex Kovalev. Kovalev was playing his first game since taking leave after the death of his mother-in-law in Russia.
Mason kicked out point shots from Kuba and Matt Carkner early in the second. Ottawa was controlling play against the Blue Jackets but were forced to kill off a Brian Lee penalty. Elliott made strong saves on Nash and Huselius, the latter coming not long after the penalty ended.
Each club had near-misses midway through the period. Columbus had two skaters behind the Ottawa defence, but a hand pass negated the chance, while Senators defenceman Alex Picard swooped in from the point but missed a half-empty net on a rebound of Milan Michalek's shot.
Elliott sprawled to keep Umberger from scoring on two whacks at the puck at the 12:20 mark.
On an Ottawa penalty late in the period, Elliott came up huge again, cutting down the angles to thwart Anton Stralman and Huselius.
The Senators couldn't get much traction on their own man advantage early in the third, and Sami Pahlsson of the Jackets nearly made them pay with a short-handed shot.
Michalek had Mason down and out midway through the period on a power play but couldn't corral the puck.
Nash went another headlong rush that just missed, while Mason was forced to make a big save on Alfredsson.
As so often happens when teams trade great scoring chances, it would be a harmless looking shot that would break the tie. Winchester drew his second assist of the game on the Foligno goal, and has four of them in the last three games.
"It came down to the last goal," Mason said. "It was a bad time to give up a bad goal."
Ottawa was without Mike Fisher for the second straight night due to an upper body injury. Chris Neil, the victim of a knee-on-knee hit in New Jersey on Wednesday, missed the first of what is expected to be a couple of weeks' worth of games.
Columbus will host Calgary for a game Saturday, with Ottawa beginning a five-game road trip the same night in Boston. Both games will be televised regionally on Hockey Night in Canada and will be streamed at CBCSports.ca (7 p.m. ET).
With files from The Canadian Press
