COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Sweden’s Mattias Ekholm scored the go-ahead goal in the third period while Finland’s Juuse Saros stopped 35 shots to help the Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in the NHL on Sunday night.
Ryan Ellis, Kevin Fiala and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Predators, who never trailed. James Neal and P.K. Subban each had a pair of assists.
Zach Werenski had a goal and two assists for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves. Brandon Saad and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the first time in three games. Seth Jones and Alexander Wennberg had two assists apiece.
”It’s just big to be able to get in a building like this with a team that’s really playing lights out this year and be able to come back,” Ekholm said. ”For us it’s a big confidence boost to know we can play like this on the road. But we can’t take our foot off the gas one bit.”
Ellis opened the scoring 2:24 into the game with a one-timer from just below the blue line. He got an assist from fellow defenseman Roman Josi, who set him up with a nice pass from right point.
Columbus got plenty of promising looks in the first period and outshot Nashville 19-7, including four shots on a power play, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
A pair of Columbus mistakes led to the Predators’ second goal 9:38 into the second period. Trying to clear the puck from the Blue Jackets zone, Wennberg sent a pass that bounced off Mike Fisher’s skate right in front of Fiala in the slot. Bobrovsky dove for the puck and missed, leaving the net wide open for Fiala.
Less than a minute later – just after a key save by Bobrovsky on Craig Smith’s breakaway – Saad got his first goal in nine games when he redirected Jones’ wrister from the right point.
Nashville went up by two again when Jarnkrok punched in a rebound with 4:20 left in the period. Bjorkstrand answered two minutes later, slamming a shot between Saros’ pads from the right circle to make it 3-2 at the second intermission.
Werenski tied it 3:41 into the third period with a wrister from the right circle. That set up the game-winner by Eckholm from the slot 9:09 into the third.
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