Nashville 5, Columbus 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- James Neal scored his 30th goal of the season and had an assist as Nashville scored four straight goals in a 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Columbus tied the score 1-1 in the first period before Nashville rattled off four unanswered goals.
Neal joined teammate Filip Forsberg as a 30-goal scorer. That's only the second time in team history two Predators have reached that milestone in the same season.
Steve Sullivan and Paul Kariya both scored 31 in 2005-06.
Mattias Ekholm, Craig Smith, Shea Weber and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Nashville, which improved to 14-2-5 since Feb. 12 -- the NHL's best record in that stretch.
The Predators (39-23-13) hold the Western Conference's first wild-card spot and began the night two points behind Chicago in the Central Division.
Boone Jenner scored the only goal for Columbus (30-37-8), which was outshot 47-18.
Pekka Rinne (32-19-10) made 17 saves to earn the win.
Joonas Korpisalo (14-10-4) allowed five goals as he took the loss for Columbus, which has lost six of its last eight.
Predators defenseman Roman Josi made three assists, giving him 43 for the season.
The Blue Jackets were eliminated from the playoffs after Thursday's 3-2 loss to Carolina.
Nashville took a 1-0 lead when Neal's wrist shot from the right faceoff circle beat Korpisalo high blocker side at 3:04 of the first period.
The Predators took 21 of the game's first 23 shots, but the Blue Jackets tied it 1-1 on Jenner's backhander at 11:52 of the first period.
Rinne made a pad save on Brandon Saad's initial shot, but the puck bounced to his right in the crease and Jenner poked it home for his team-leading 28th goal.
Nashville took a 2-1 lead nearly six minutes later when Ekholm's shot from the low slot bounced off defenseman Dalton Sprout's skate and into the net.
The Predators outshot the Blue Jackets 27-10 in the first period, setting a franchise record for most shots in a period.
Smith increased Nashville's lead to 3-1 when he sent a rebound into an open net from the low slot at 6:11 of the second period for his 19th goal of the season.
Weber built the lead to 4-1 on the power play when he blasted a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle past Korpisalo at 14:14 of the second period for his 18th goal of the season.
Playmaker Mike Ribeiro set up the captain with a cross-ice pass for his 42nd assist of the season.
Weber moved ahead of Martin Erat into sole possession of second place in franchise history with 164 career goals.
Nashville's defensemen have 186 goals, most in the NHL.
Jarnkrok increased the Predators' lead to 5-1 when he tipped a pass from Roman Josi into an open net 23 seconds into the third period.
The crowd at Bridgestone Arena gave former Predator Seth Jones a standing ovation during a video tribute with 8:57 left in the first period.
NOTES: Columbus D Seth Jones played his first game in Nashville since being traded for C Ryan Johansen on Jan. 6. Jones is averaging nearly five minutes more in ice time than before the trade and led the Blue Jackets in average ice time with a 24:27 clip entering the game. Johansen had seven goals and 18 assists in his first 34 games with Nashville, playing on the first line. Both players were fourth overall draft picks. ... D Dean Kukan made his NHL debut, becoming the first Swiss player to play for Columbus. ... Nashville was 6-0-3 in its previous nine home games. ... Predators G Pekka Rinne was 11-1-2 in his previous 14 games.