COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets followed the worst start to a season in franchise history -- the worst in modern NHL history, actually -- with several weeks of wildly inconsistent play.

Only now, in the depths of winter with the Stanley Cup playoffs far out of reach, are the Blue Jackets started to play like everybody expected.

Left winger Boone Jenner scored two goals, and left winger Brandon Saad added his club-leading 21st goal of the season to pace a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in Nationwide Arena.

Right winger Cam Atkinson also scored while defenseman Seth Jones had two assists as the Blue Jackets improved to 6-1-2 since Jan. 22 and gained a point in a season-high fifth straight game (4-0-1).

"The most important part of our game is that we've been a patient team," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "When something happens to us, we don't panic.

"We keep our patience and we keep playing our game. That's helped us."

Rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo finished with 33 saves and continued a torrid stretch of play since he took over for injured starter Sergei Bobrovsky.

Korpisalo is 8-2-2 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .939 save percentage in his last 12 outings.

"Confidence, it goes both ways," Korpisalo said. "They're playing good in front of me. They're putting their bodies in front to block shots, and they're playing for me. Of course, I play for them, too."

Ottawa right winger Bobby Ryan scored a 5-on-3 power play goal early in the third period, and defenseman Codi Ceci scored later in the period, but the Senators ran out of the time.

Senators goaltender Craig Anderson finished with 36 saves, while Ottawa lost for the third straight game.

"A little too much too late," Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said. "We had no jump in the first period. We were lucky to get out of there.

"Lack of jump, that's preparation. We dipped our toes to start. You have to play 60 minutes this time of year."

The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead at 18:29 of the first when Jenner plowed into a crease and poked home a loose puck that got behind Anderson.

The Jackets pushed the lead to 2-0 at 14:47 of the second when Atkinson potted his 19th goal off a behind-the-net feed from center Brandon Dubinsky.

The Senators finally got going offensively in the third, thanks to back-to-back penalties by the Blue Jackets in the first 1:41 of the period.

It left Ottawa with 1:05 of 5-on-3 power play time, and it cashed in quickly.

At 2:19 of the third, Ryan fired into an open net above Korpisalo, who was still down from a previous save and had lost his stick.

The Blue Jackets restored the two-goal margin at 14:25 of the third when Saad finished a 2-on-1 left winger Scott Hartnell.

But Ceci responded at 15:43, making it 3-2 on a slap shot from the high slot that beat Korpisalo's glove.

Jenner's empty-net goal with 43.7 seconds remaining capped the scoring.

The Senators lost defenseman Mark Borowiecki midway through the second period after an awkward collision in the corner with Saad.

Borowiecki appeared unconscious when he hit the ice after slamming into the wall, and the Senators training staff hurried on to the ice and called for a stretcher.

Moments later, however, Borowiecki rose to his feet and skated to the dressing room with a little help, holding a towel to his face.

He did not return to the game, but Cameron said after the game that he was doing "pretty good."

NOTES: Blue Jackets D David Savard, out since Jan. 13 because of a strained oblique muscle, was activated from the Injured Reserve list and returned to the lineup. He was paired with D Jack Johnson on the No. 2 back line. ... Ottawa LW Ryan Dzingel played his first NHL game in Nationwide Arena, but at least the city was familiar. Dzingel was captain at Ohio State and scored 45 goals in a three-year span before the Senators drafted him in the seventh round in 2011.