Late third-period goals lift Predators past Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Calle Jarnkrok scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Nashville Predators extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.
Jarnkrok's second goal of the season came with 5:35 remaining when a rebound on a shot by Miikka Salomaki found his stick in front of the net. He sent the puck over the outstretched leg of Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for the game-winner.
Matt Irwin scored the Predators' first goal in the opening period and Viktor Arvidsson added an empty-netter with 15.1 seconds remaining. Salomaki had two assists for Nashville (8-5-2).
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the tying goal at 4:37 of the third period for the Blue Jackets (9-6-1).
Predators goalie Pekka Rinne finished with 35 saves; Korpisalo had 26 stops for the Blue Jackets.
The Predators closed out a four-game road trip with a 3-1 record. The Blue Jackets, playing for the second consecutive night, lost their third straight game.
Irwin opened the scoring at 12:36 of the second period. Cutting to the net, Irwin took a pass from Arvidsson in the left circle and fired a wrist shot that found the top of the net past Korpisalo's glove hand for his second goal of the season.
The Predators defenseman made the most of his limited ice time, accounting for four of the Predators' 19 shots on goal through two periods.
The Blue Jackets evened the score at 1 on an unassisted goal by Dubois after he stole the puck from P.K. Subban at the blue line.
After giving up three power play goals to the New York Rangers in a 5-3 loss on Monday night, the Blue Jackets' penalty kill survived its first test 30 seconds after the opening faceoff when David Savard was called for tripping.
Columbus managed to kill all of Nashville's four power play chances in the game.
The Blue Jackets failed to take advantage of their two power play opportunities in the opening period. Their best scoring chance came in the final seconds of the period when Nick Foligno's point-blank snap shot was saved by Rinne.
Columbus was 0 of 4 on the power play.
NOTES: Blue Jackets RW Cam Atkinson was activated after missing four games with a lower-body injury. He has four goals and five points in 11 games this season. ... C Kyle Turris, acquired by the Predators on Sunday in a three-team trade that involved the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators, did not play. He's expected to see his first action for Nashville on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. ... Blue Jackets LW Matt Calvert will miss three to four weeks with an upper-body injury suffered Saturday in a game at Tampa Bay. He has three goals and five assists in 14 games this season. Columbus is also without fourth-line C Lukas Sedlak (ankle) for another four weeks. ... Blue Jackets D Gabriel Carlsson was activated Sunday off injured reserve and saw action against the Predators. He missed 10 games with an upper-body injury. ... Predators F Scott Hartnell returned to Columbus for the first time leaving as a free agent in July. In three seasons with the Blue Jackets, Hartnell had 64 goals and 82 assists in 234 games.