The Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to seven games. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves to help Columbus earn its seventh consecutive home victory.
Columbus holds the first wild card in the Eastern Conference -- with a one-point lead -- while also having the same point total as the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division, the Philadelphia Flyers.
In addition, the Blue Jackets closed out the season series with a 2-1 edge over Ottawa, which is out of playoff contention.
However, Columbus needed to rally from an early 1-0 deficit as Ottawa's Alexandre Burrows scored the game's first goal with 7:44 left in opening period.
The puck was loose in front and Burrows got into the traffic and pushed at it a few times before it went into the net for the 1-0 advantage.
Jim O'Brien got the only assist on the goal, his first point of the season in his fifth game.
The Blue Jackets tied it on Jenner's goal with 3:39 remaining in the first period. Thomas Vanek chipped the puck into the Ottawa zone from the neutral zone, and it bounced around before Jenner corralled it and flipped a high shot past goalie Mike Condon.
Columbus then got the tiebreaking goal when Nutivaara scored on the power play with 3:59 left in the second period.
The puck came to Nutivaara near the blue line, and he fired a shot that made its way through a maze of players in front and got past Condon for a 2-1 Columbus lead.
Ottawa pulled Condon late in the third period, but the Senators couldn't tie the game. Condon finished with 33 saves.
--Field Level Media
Ottawa | Columbus | |
Alexandre Burrows 1 | Points | Boone Jenner 1 |
Alexandre Burrows 1 | Goals | Boone Jenner 1 |
Jim O'Brien 1 | Assists | Oliver Bjorkstrand 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Markus Nutivaara 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Mike Condon .943 | Save Percentage | Sergei Bobrovsky .958 |
Mike Condon 33 | Saves | Sergei Bobrovsky 23 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Ottawa | 24 | 1 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 4 | 22 |
Columbus | 35 | 2 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 2 | 22 |