Five days after the Central Division rivals’ last meeting, it was evident that not much had changed as Nashville continued its dominance against Columbus with a 4-1 victory in the Music City. The Blue Jackets’ spurts of good play, specifically in the second period, were negated by an overall weak performance.
Columbus, now 3-20-2 when surrendering the first goal, fell behind early when Mike Fisher put the Predators up 1-0 at 8:07 of the opening period. After 20 minutes, the Blue Jackets had been outshot 12-3.
Following a slow start, Columbus picked up its offensive play in the second frame. A 15-save performance from Nashville’s Pekka Rinne kept the game square. The Blue Jackets’ only true success came early in the period when Rick Nash stuffed away a highlight-reel goal. But the tie was broken once more as Fisher scored again in the final minute of the period.
The Predators’ late-period tally was one of their two power-play goals of the evening. Columbus, still trying to limit penalties, put Nashville on the man-advantage five times in the game.
In the third period, the Predators picked up two more goals to make it 4-1. Steve Mason, now backup to Curtis Sanford, saved 25 of 29 shots in the contest.
The Blue Jackets will play their last game before the All-Star break Tuesday night in Tampa Bay.
mm938910@ohiou.edu
