Stützle scores 2 as Senators use 4-goal 1st period to beat Blue Jackets 6–3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tim Stützle scored twice, and the Ottawa Senators used a four-goal first period to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6–3 on Thursday night, snapping a three-game skid.

Michael Amadio had a goal and two assists, David Perron and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist, and Claude Giroux also scored. Dylan Cozens finished with three assists, and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for Ottawa, which had lost six of its past eight but has now won two straight on the road.

Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets in his first game back after missing 14 with an upper-body injury. Dante Fabbro and Dmitri Voronkov also scored, and Zach Werenski added two assists as Columbus dropped its fourth straight.

Elvis Merzlikins was pulled after making two saves on five shots, allowing three goals for the 12th time in 13 starts. Jet Greaves stopped 21 in relief.

Perron opened the scoring at 6:58 of the first, poking in a loose rebound, and Batherson doubled the lead just over a minute later with a wrister from outside the crease. Stützle’s power-play goal with 5:05 left in the period made it 3–0 and sent Merzlikins to the bench.

Jenner cut the deficit with 1:56 remaining in the first, but Amadio restored Ottawa’s three-goal lead with 34 seconds to go.

Fabbro made it 4–2 at 3:02 of the second, and Voronkov pulled Columbus within one on a power play at 8:10. Stützle answered with his second of the night with 2:01 to go in the period, and Giroux sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:23 remaining in the game.

Senators: At Minnesota on Saturday.

Blue Jackets: Host Las Vegas on Saturday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Dmitri Voronkov (10) reaches for the puck next to Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk, right, skates in front of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk (5) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves (73) covers the puck between Ottawa Senators left wing Fabian Zetterlund (20) and left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) skates in front of Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves (73) int he second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

PHILIPSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia was freed from immigration detention on a judge's order Thursday while he fights to stay in the U.S., handing a major victory to the immigrant whose wrongful deportation to a notorious prison in El Salvador made him a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the United States without any legal basis.

Abrego Garcia’s attorney’s office confirmed he was released just before 5 p.m., the deadline the judge gave the government for an update on Abrego Garcia’s release. His attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, earlier told The Associated Press that Abrego Garcia plans to return to Maryland, where he has an American wife and child and where he has lived for years after originally immigrating to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.

Abrego Garcia had been held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center about 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.

Sandoval-Moshenberg said he’s not sure what comes next, but he’s prepared to defend his client against further deportation efforts.

“The government still has plenty of tools in their toolbox, plenty of tricks up their sleeve,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said, adding he fully expects the government to again take steps to deport his client. “We’re going to be there to fight to make sure there is a fair trial.”

The Department of Homeland Security sharply criticized the judge's decision and vowed to appeal, calling the ruling “naked judicial activism” by a judge appointed during the Obama administration.

“This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary.

Sandoval-Moshenberg said the judge made it clear that the government can’t detain someone indefinitely without legal authority and that his client “has endured more than anyone should ever have to.”

Abrego Garcia, with an American wife and child, has lived in Maryland for years but entered the U.S. illegally as a teenager. An immigration judge ruled in 2019 that Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, could not be deported to El Salvador because he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family. When he was mistakenly sent there in March, his case became a rallying point for those who oppose President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.

A court later ordered his return to the United States. Since he cannot be removed to El Salvador, ICE has been seeking to deport him to a series of African countries. His federal suit claims the Trump administration is illegally using the removal process to punish Abrego Garcia for the public embarrassment caused by his deportation.

In her order releasing Abrego Garcia, Xinis wrote that federal authorities “did not just stonewall” the court, “They affirmatively misled the tribunal.” The judge was referencing the successive list of four African countries that officials had sought to remove Abrego Garcia to, seemingly without commitments from those countries, as well as officials' affirmations that Costa Rica withdrew its offer to accept him, a claim later proven untrue.

“But Costa Rica had never wavered in its commitment to receive Abrego Garcia, just as Abrego Garcia never wavered in his commitment to resettle there,” the judge wrote.

Xinis also rejected the government’s argument that she lacked jurisdiction to intervene on a final removal order for Abrego Garcia, because she found no final order had been filed.

Separately, Abrego Garcia is asking an immigration court to reopen his case so he can seek asylum in the United States.

He is also criminally charged in Tennessee, where he has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling. He has asked the federal court to dismiss the case, arguing the prosecution is vindictive. His defense attorney in Tennessee, Sean Hecker, declined to comment.

Loller reported from Nashville and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

Kilmar Abrego García arrives to his home in Beltsville, Md., Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, after being released from ICE custody. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Kilmar Abrego García arrives to his home in Beltsville, Md., Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, after being released from ICE custody. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

FILE - Kilmar Abrego Garcia joins supporters in a protest rally outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)