Bemstrom’s OT tally lifts Columbus over Ottawa

Emil Bemstrom scored 4:35 into overtime, and the Columbus Blue Jackets snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday.

Bemstrom knocked home a rebound for his seventh of the season. Nick Foligno scored twice for the Blue Jackets, and Stefan Matteau tied it with his second of the season midway through the third period.

Columbus’ first win since Feb. 7 might have been a costly one after goaltender Elvis Merzlikins departed in the second following a big collision at the net with former Jackets forward Anthony Duclair.

The Blue Jackets have been ravaged by injuries this year. Merzlikins was replaced by Joonas Korpisalo, who was just activated after sitting out with a knee injury since Dec. 29.

Merzlikins had 16 saves, and Korpisalo made 14 stops.

Connor Brown had two goals for Ottawa, which traded away two of its top offensive players at the deadline earlier Monday. Colin White also scored, and Marcus Hogberg had 41 saves in Ottawa’s third straight loss.

The Blue Jackets’ slide had reached eight, but they managed to get a point in five of the losses to stay in contention. The win enabled them to jump over idle Carolina into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card slot.

Foligno — still sporting two black eyes from taking a puck in the face Thursday — got the Blue Jackets on the board 4:10 into the first when he swept the puck in from the slot. Gustav Nyquist got the primary assist.

Brown tied it at 10:48 when he banged a shot off the near post and past Merzlikins from close in.

A wrist shot by Brown from the top of the circle just 9 seconds into a power play put the Senators up 2-1 halfway through the second.

Foligno got his ninth of the season with 7:28 left in the second, a tap-in after a nice play by Boone Jenner.

The teams traded goals again in the third period, with White tapping in a rebound and Matteau getting credit for a tip-in of Scott Harrington’s long shot 29 seconds later.