Predators at Blue Jackets
After winning four of five meetings with their former Central Division rivals last season, the Columbus Blue Jackets look to continue their good fortune against the Nashville Predators when the teams meet in the Buckeye State on Wednesday. Sergei Bobrovsky was downright stingy in net, yielding just seven goals in four of the contests. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner was hardly taxed in his last outing, turning aside all 18 shots he faced in Columbus' 6-0 triumph over Toronto on Monday.
Nashville recorded its fourth win in five outings on Monday with a 4-2 victory over Phoenix. Gabriel Bourque and Marek Mazanec have been integral parts of the Predators' success as the former has three goals in the stretch while the latter continues to excel in the absence of Pekka Rinne. Matt Cullen and Craig Smith picked up assists on Nick Spaling's goal to increase their respective point totals to seven in their last five contests.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (12-10-2): Captain Shea Weber scored an empty-net goal to pull into a tie with Ottawa's Erik Karlsson, Phoenix's Michael Stone and Boston's Torey Krug for the most tallies (seven) among defensemen. Weber leads the Predators in that department as well - and has helped his cause with three goals in his last five games. Nashville is a perfect 7-0-0 when Weber contributes offensively, and the British Columbia native has done well against the Blue Jackets by recording 34 points in 41 career contests.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (9-12-3): After being held off the scoresheet in his previous three contests, Ryan Johansen erupted versus the Maple Leafs by collecting two goals and an assist. The fourth overall pick of the 2010 draft, Johansen has eight tallies already this season - one shy of his career-best mark in 2011-12. Brandon Dubinsky is in line to make a return after suffering a bruised foot in last week's 7-0 rout by Edmonton.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus placed RW Jared Boll on injured reserve with a bruised foot on Tuesday and added C Sean Collins on emergency recall from Springfield of the American Hockey League.
2. Nashville has successfully killed all 12 of its penalties over the last five contests.
3. The Blue Jackets scored twice on the power play Monday after going six of their previous seven games without a man-advantage tally.