Senators eliminated from playoffs despite win over Jets

Alex Chiasson saw an opportunity and took full advantage of it Wednesday night, as the Ottawa Senators edged the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 to snap their four-game road losing streak.

However, Ottawa was eliminated from playoff contention after Philadelphia beat Washington 2-1 in overtime. The Senators had been the last Canadian team that still had a shot at the post-season.

Chiasson jumped on a loose puck — a deflected pass that changed direction off Mark Scheifele's skate in front of the Jets net — and his shot beat Winnipeg goaltender Michael Hutchinson less than two minutes after the Jets tied the game 1-1.

"It was a lucky bounce there," Chiasson said of his eighth goal of the season. "Good forecheck by [Ryan] Dzingel. It kind of bounced on my stick and it was nice to get rewarded."

"It's nice to see everyone rolling well. I can't say there was a line that wasn't playing up to the standards. It was a good effort for that."

Zack Smith opened the scoring on Ottawa's first shot of the game as Mark Stone found him in the high slot, beating Hutchinson glove side for his 22nd goal of the season.

Winnipeg's third period equalizer extended point streaks for Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler to five and six games, respectively. Scheifele added to his team-leading goal total with his 26th of the season with Wheeler assisting on the play.

"At the start of the year you think about numbers and you set goals for yourself," said Scheifele. "And getting closer and closer to 30 [goals] is obviously a goal of mine. But the biggest thing is winning games and help this team and grow as a full 200-foot player."

Wheeler lead a three-on-three rush into the Ottawa zone before turning and finding a streaking Scheifele with a pin-point pass that he buried at 6:55 of the third

"Clearly that line wasn't what we had hoped for or expected tonight," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice of Scheifele, Wheeler, and Nikolaj Ehlers. "But [they] found a way to tie the game. They didn't have a lot of room to make the play and made the play."

Senators goalie Andrew Hammond stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced for his sixth win of the season as Ottawa improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven against the Jets.

"The biggest thing that sticks out in my mind is the shot blocks throughout the game at key times," said Hammond. "Whether it was on the penalty kill or at the end of the game there when they had the goalie out, that was a huge part."

Hutchinson kept Winnipeg in the game with strong play throughout the night, finishing with 18 saves.

Stone gets rocked

Stone will likely remember this game in his hometown well as Ottawa's leading scorer was on the receiving end of a monstrous body check from Dustin Byfuglien.

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Carrying the puck through the neutral zone midway through the second period, Byfuglien stepped up and caught Stone with his head down with a crushing and clean hit at the blue line. Stone went directly to the locker-room, but soon returned and finished the second period. Prior to the third the Senators announced he would not return to the game after sustaining a chest injury.

"You just don't see those very often," said Maurice of the ferocity of the hit. "It's clean but so hard that you're wondering how a guy can come back from it, but he did. Good for him."

Ottawa continues its three-game road trip with stops in Minnesota and Philadelphia on Thursday and Saturday.

The Jets continue their final home stand of the season with two Central Division opponents entering MTS Centre, hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday and the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.