R.J. Umberger, strong power-play unit leads Blue Jackets past Senators 4-1

OTTAWA – R.J. Umberger had the eventual winner as the Columbus Blue Jackets scored three straight power-play goals on Sunday to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-1.

Ryan Johansen and Fedor Tyutin also scored with the man advantage for Columbus (7-10-3), while Derek MacKenzie scored at even strength. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots for the win.

Erik Karlsson scored the lone goal for the Senators (8-8-4) in the third period. Craig Anderson made 18 saves for Ottawa.

Trailing 3-0 to start the third, things got even worse for the Senators as MacKenzie made it 4-0 at the five-minute mark of the third.

An otherwise ugly game got even uglier after Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki caught Jared Boll with his head down. James Wisniewski quickly came to his teammate’s defence and fought Borowiecki. The two were tossed from the game once the penalties were sorted out.

The Senators broke Bobrovsky’s shutout bid at 17:33 of the third as Ottawa made the most of a two-man advantage as Karlsson scored his seventh of the season.

The small crowd of 15,535 on hand for the matinee was quiet to begin with and it grew even quieter after the Blue Jackets took a 3-0 lead scoring twice in the second period.

Columbus made it 2-0 at the four-minute mark of the second as Johansen took a shot from inside the blue-line and Umberger managed to get his stick on the rebound.

The Blue Jackets had a two-man advantage and adding to the Senators woes was the fact Chris Phillips’ stick broke seconds before Tyutin made it 3-0.

The Blue Jackets made it 1-0 at 4:50 as Johansen took a pass from Ryan Murray and then showed some great patience as he waited for a lane to clear before shooting.

This marked the 14th time this season that Ottawa gave up the first goal. The Senators have a 3-8-3 record when the opposition scores first.

Erik Condra returned to the lineup after missing the last six games with a leg injury.

Notes: D Patrick Wiercioch, D Joe Corvo and LW Matt Kassian were a healthy scratch for the Senators. RW Erik Condra missed his sixth straight game with a leg injury … RW Jack Skille and D Dalton Prout were a healthy scratch for the Blue Jackets. Marian