KANATA, Ontario _ Prior to entering the locker room Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre, Anthony Duclair was a popular guy in the tunnel.
He signed a black Ottawa Senators jersey, gave fans a few high-fives, took several selfies and flashed a wide smile the entire time. What an afternoon it was for the Senators' leading scorer, who netted his third career hat trick, at age 24, and did it at the behest of the Blue Jackets in Ottawa's 4-3 overtime victory against his former team.
"I've just been given the opportunity of proving myself every shift," said Duclair, who was dealt to the Senators last season at the trade deadline for pending free agent Ryan Dzingel. "Sometimes I don't have a good shift or make a bad play, but the big thing is I'm right back out there the next shift and I can prove myself. In the past, sometimes if I (made) a mistake or whatnot, I'm sort of glued to the bench. So, I'm just happy to get continuing opportunities."
This time, it came at the expense of the Blue Jackets (12-14-6), who lost for the second straight time in overtime and had three players _ Sonny Milano, Josh Anderson and Ryan Murray _ leave with injuries. It was another stinging loss for Columbus, which roared back from a 3-1 deficit to tie it 3-3 in the third period on goals by rookie Alexandre Texier.
The Blue Jackets came into the game off a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, which coach John Tortorella said was an embarrassment to the entire organization. His beef was with his team's work ethic, or lack thereof, against a Penguins team missing five lineup regulars _ including stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
He expected a much better response against Ottawa, but didn't get it until the Senators had built a 3-1 lead _ including two goals by Duclair in the first.
"We need to worry about how we're going to inflict instead of being inflicted upon, as we were totally in that Pittsburgh game," Tortorella said before the game. "That's the biggest thing, a mindset of inflicting."
Ottawa did the inflicting first, taking a 1-0 lead 2:16 into the game on a goal by Duclair. It was scored with a wrist shot from between the circles that beat rookie goalie Elvis Merzlikins to the far side _ a shot that is usually stopped.
Cam Atkinson tied the game at 1 just 2:37 later on a breakaway, getting help from a video review, but Duclair struck again at 12:05 to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.
Merzlikins, who was pulled for Joonas Korpisalo after one period, was also beaten by Nick Paul with 4:40 left in the first. That would've made it 3-1, but the Jackets won an offside challenge to stay within a goal.
Connor Brown did make it 3-1 in the second with a goal against Korpisalo, but Columbus then began to control play _ despite missing two forwards and a defenseman.
The Jackets outshot Ottawa 20-5 in the third, including Texier's goals, but Duclair ended on a power play in overtime that followed Atkinson being stopped on a breakaway.
"I wasn't there (in Columbus) for long," said Duclair, who leads the Senators (14-17-2) with 18 goals. "It's obviously a little more motivation playing ex-teammates, that's for sure. I'm just happy I played well."
