COLUMBUS, Ohio — Luke Evangelista scored a tie-breaking goal in the third period, Kevin Lankinen made 33 stops and the Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Saturday for their 10th win in 11 games.
Kiefer Sherwood also scored for Nashville, whose only loss since Feb. 15 was in overtime to Montreal on Tuesday. The Predators have moved up into the top wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Blue Jackets wasted an outstanding game by goaltender Daniil Tarasov, whose 47 saves tied his career high. Alexandre Texier scored the only goal for Columbus. The last-place team in the Metropolitan Division entered the game having won three of the last four.
Nashville scored before Columbus could manage a shot on goal.
With the shot tally at 14-0, Sherwood gathered the puck off a faceoff and broke away on a rush, beating Tarasov between the pads with 7:41 left in the first period. The Blue Jackets finally recorded a shot on goal with 4:48 left in the frame.
Texier shoveled in a rebounded puck from Ivan Provorov's long-distance shot to tie the game 1:50 into the second.
A potential go-ahead goal by Boone Jenner late in the second was disallowed because the Columbus captain's stick was above the crossbar when he batted in a bouncing puck.
Evangelista snapped off a shot from the left dot that went over Tarasov's head and gave Nashville the lead for good.
UP NEXT
Predators: Visit Minnesota on Sunday.
Blue Jackets: Visit Montreal on Tuesday night.
