Predators 4, Blue Jackets 1
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - When the schedule calls for a road game in Nashville, the Columbus Blue Jackets are pretty sure what the result is going to be.

Shea Weber had a goal and two assists and Pekka Rinne made 19 saves in the Nashville Predators' 15th straight home victory over the Blue Jackets, 4-1 on Sunday night.

Nick Spaling, Patric Hornqvist and Sergei Kostitsyn also scored for Nashville. The Predators have won two straight following a five-game losing streak.

R.J. Umberger scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets had won three straight.

After Columbus opened the scoring 37 seconds into the game, Nashville countered with a three-goal second.

"In the first period we got pucks in, got after them, and forced them to turn pucks over," Columbus coach Scott Arniel said. "(In the second) they did the exact opposite. They did the same thing. Once the first couple went it, it was scramble mode."

Umberger scored 37 seconds after the opening faceoff when he was able to defect Marc Methot's shot from the right point past Rinne. Umberger has goals in three consecutive games.

"If you ever want to suck the energy out of a building, just give up a goal on the first shift," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We were able to get through the first period, and I thought we regrouped very well. I thought after that, we were really strong all game."

Weber tied it at 2:59 of the second with a slap shot from the middle of the blue line. Hornqvist screened goalie Steve Mason on the play.

"They played in our end the whole first period, so we had to do something to change it up," Weber said. "We just wanted to get pucks there and create traffic and chaos in front."

Nashville took the lead with 6:09 left in the second on Spaling's goal. Weber sent a wrist shot on net from the right faceoff dot. Mason knocked the shot away, but Spaling was able to knock in the rebound from just outside the crease for his second goal of the season.

"They just simplified things," Columbus defenseman Kris Russell said. "They got pucks deep and really hounded our defense, and got on top of us and were physical."

Just under 3 minutes after Spaling's goal, Hornqvist grabbed the rebound of Weber's shot and fired it into the Columbus net while falling to the ice on a power play.

"Webs did a great job of getting pucks through, and the forwards did a good job to be around there," Hornqvist said. "If you spend some time there, you are going to score some goals."

Kostitsyn converted a rebound of Colin Wilson's shot at 5:53 of the third.

Nashville center Cal O'Reilly broke the fibula in his right leg when he fell awkwardly to the ice just outside of the Columbus blue line midway through the third period. There didn't appear to be any contact with the other players on the ice at the time. O'Reilly attempted to crawl back to the Nashville bench before play was halted. In 38 games this season, O'Reilly has six goals and 12 assists.

NOTES: Columbus' last win in Nashville was April 3, 2006. ... The Blue Jackets have been outscored 42-29 in the second period this season ... Columbus is 14-3-0 when scoring first ... Nashville RW Joel Ward has points in three consecutive games ... Nashville hasn't allowed a power-play goal in its last four games.


Three star selections
1st:   SHEA WEBER
2nd:   PATRIC HORNQVIST
3rd:   PEKKA RINNE
Winning Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

Losing Goaltender
Steve Mason

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73

 


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