Nashville Predators out-do Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1: NHL Recap
Patric Hornqvist lit the lamp twice and had an assist, as the Nashville Predators held on for a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, at the Bridgestone Arena on Friday night.
Matt Halischuk and Sergei Kostitsyn both also hit the net for Nashville, which has won two consecutive games and is at the fourth place with 99 points in the Western Conference with one game to play. Pekka Rinne turned away 44 shots in the victory.
"To me, he's our MVP without a doubt," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I would say he's probably the best goaltender in the National Hockey League. You have to talk about who's the most valuable player to his team, which is what the Hart Trophy's
about. Pekka's got to be in the top three for me."
Derick Brassard provided the lone offence for Columbus, which has lost its previous five contests which they have played this season. Steve Mason was beaten for all four goals on 25 shots in the losing effort.
"When you have a good goaltender like they do it forces you to shoot more," said Brassard. "There is a lot of frustration in our locker room cause we try hard and put everything we have into every game and it's just not working out for us right now."
Nashville got the scoring of the game started in just six minutes into the first period. The goal came when Mike Fisher grabbed the puck into the Blue Jackets' end and drew a couple of Columbus' defenders and goalie to him at the post. He then ripped
a shot on net down low, but it was stopped. Hornqvist then followed the rebound and jammed it home for 1-0 lead.
Nashville doubled up the advantage, 2-0, less than two minutes into the middle session. The play was set up by Jerred Smithson, who sent a nice pass in the Blue Jackets’ end, where Halischuk switched to the forehand and blasted a shot through Mason’s
pads.
The Predators pushed the lead to 3-0 just 52 seconds later, when Hornqvist fired an unassisted back-hander from the right circle past Mason for his 21st goal of the season.
Columbus finally hit the board and cut the deficit in half, 3-1, with 1 ½ minutes left in the second period. It happened so when the Predators' captain, Shea Weber, had a nice break-up of his own in front of Rinne. Brassard attempted to send a cross-ice
pass to a teammate only to see Weber just swipe away the disc. Brassard then banged a shot from the right circle that found its way to the net.
The Predators sealed the win at 4-1 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the final period. It started when Hornqvist moved up the right side with the puck and passed it to Kostitsyn, who knocked it home.
Tags: