In the end, it was the much-maligned Senators power play that won the day.

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Antoine and Jodi

Vermette had a special name on his post-game guest list for the visitors greeting area: Jodi Graham. Graham, a west-end woman who played soccer for the Nepean Hotspurs, was badly injured in a 2006 car accident.

Jodi was Vermette's biggest fan when he was with the Senators and used photo images of Vermette as motivation in her rehabilitation. Graham attended the Columbus game with her family and met with Vermette afterward.

Yzerman in House

Spezza's timing was good, Fisher's lousy. Steve Yzerman, executive director of Canada's 2010 Olympic men's hockey team, was at Scotiabank Place to scout the Blue Jackets and Senators as part of his ongoing analysis prior to the Dec. 31 roster announcement. Fisher's standout play has caught the eye of selectors, but he has missed the past two games with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

Injury Semantics

NHL teams continue to embarrass themselves with all these "upper-" and "lower-" body injury descriptions. At least Clouston had the good sense to admit Neil suffered a knee injury in the hit by Andrew Peters on Wednesday night. Teams tend to come clean when players are out for an extended period, like Neil, Volchenkov (elbow), and Leclaire (cheekbone), but for day-to-day players such as Fisher, we get the same old "upper-body" lingo.

Assistant general manager Tim Murray, on a radio interview, scoffed when he heard himself making upper-body and lower-body references to Ottawa injuries.

"It's ridiculous to talk like this," Murray said.

For a league that longs to be taken seriously in the United States, the NHL should follow the NFL model of injury disclosure. Vague descriptions do a disservice to fans who use their hard-earned money for tickets and TV packages.

Subscribers can read previous columns by Wayne Scanlan at ottawacitizen.com . He can be reached at wscanlan@thecitizen.canwest.com .

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Game File

James Gordon

Senators' effort

HHHHHHHHII

The Game

Don't be deceived by the 2-1 score. The game had a bundle of scoring chances. If not for the Senators' Brian Elliott, Blue Jackets netminder Steve Mason and a few posts here and there, it could have just as easily been a barnburner.

Stud

Brian Elliott, Senators

If Elliott keeps playing like this, there won't be any rush to get No. 1 goalie Pascal Leclaire back in the lineup. Elliott was spectacular at times.

Dud

Jan Hejda, Blue Jackets

There are better times to take a penalty than in the dying minutes of a closely-contested game. Jan Hejda wore the goat horns after his late hooking call resulted in the winning goal.

Did You Believe...

...the bad luck? There's no denying referee Dave Jackson got a good look at the play when he raised his arm to call Senators defenceman Filip Kuba for hauling down Columbus star Rick Nash in the first period. Nash slid right into the official, knocking him awkwardly to the ice. Jackson had to be helped off and didn't return with what appeared to be a lower body injury.