Ekholm pushes Predators past Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Mattias Ekholm's tiebreaking goal at 9:09 of the third period lifted the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday at Nationwide Arena.
Earlier in the final period, Blue Jackets rookie defensive sensation Zach Werenski knotted the game at 3-3 after being permitted to walk into the left faceoff circle and score from near the faceoff dot.
In keeping with the tone set throughout the second and third periods in which the teams repeatedly responded to the other's scoring efforts, Ekholm matched the Werenski goal by flicking a wrist shot into the top corner of the net for the clincher.
Ryan Ellis, Kevin Fiala and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Nashville, which got two assists apiece from P.K. Subban and James Neal. Juuse Saros made 35 saves in the win.
Brandon Saad and Oliver Bjorkstrand added the other Columbus goals. Werenski, Alexander Wennberg and Seth Jones each had two assists, and Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots.
While Columbus put 19 shots on goal in the opening period, including four on a power-play opportunity, it was Ellis netting the lone first-period goal.
Ellis launched a slap shot into the Blue Jackets net from just inside the blue line at 2:24 in the opening
At 9:38 in the second period, a defensive zone turnover by Wennberg led to Fiala sliding a puck past Bobrovsky for a 2-0 Nashville advantage.
Bobrovsky responded by making what would be a momentum changing skate-save moments later on a breakaway chance by Nashville's Craig Smith. The seemingly charged up Blue Jackets scored less than a minute after Fiala's tally, with Saad deflecting a Seth Jones attempt from the blue line into the net to cut the lead to 2-1.
Nashville restored its two-goal advantage when Jarnkrok was able to pop a loose puck into the net that Bobrovsky appeared to have mishandled.
Bjorkstrand sent his second goal of the season over Saros into the top of the net with 2:21 to go in the middle period to make it 3-2.
NOTES: Nashville C Ryan Johansen played at Columbus for the first time since being traded for Blue Jackets D Seth Jones on Jan. 6, 2016. ... Blue Jackets LW Scott Hartnell returned after missing two games with a lower-body injury he sustained against the New York Rangers on Feb. 13. ... Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky earned 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in his previous 16 games, but he was held off the scoresheet Sunday. ... Following the defeat, the Blue Jackets began their mandated five-day break. ... D Anthony Bitetto, D Brad Hunt and LW Harry Zolnierczyk were scratches for Nashville, as were C Lukas Sedlak, D Dalton Prout and D Scott Harrington for Columbus. ... The Predators play host to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.