Nashville Predators at Columbus Blue Jackets

· National Hockey League

Nashville Predators

27-40-8

Final
4 - 8

Columbus Blue Jackets

34-30-9

Marchenko has 3 goals and an assist to lead Blue Jackets to 8-4 win over Predators

Nashville Predators vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Game Highlights

Sean Monahan had two goals and two assists, Adam Fantilli had two goals and an assist, Dante Fabbro had a goal and an assist, and Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson each had two assists for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 shots.

Filip Forsberg, Michael Bunting, Justin Barron and Jordan Oesterle scored for Nashville, and Luke Evangelista had two assists. Juuse Saros gave up a season-high seven goals on 26 shots through two periods, and Justus Annunen had 10 saves in the third.

Marchenko scored from between the circles 1:15 into the game, Fantilli doubled the lead with 3:26 remaining in the first from the right circle, and Monahan made it 3-0 on the power play from nearly the same spot with 1:50 left in the period.

Forsberg got the Predators on the scoreboard 24 seconds later with his 29th of the season, but Marchenko got his second of the night at 4:12 of the second to restore Columbus' three-goal lead.

Bunting and Barron scored 43 seconds apart to pull Nashville to 4-3 at 6 1/2 minutes into the middle period.

Fantilli, Monahan and Fabbro all scored in the final 8 minutes of the period to help the Blue Jackets pull away, and Marchenko finished off his first hat trick since Dec. 19, 2023, at 5:23 of the third to make it 8-3.

Takeaways Predators: Nashville, languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, has lost four straight and five of six.

Blue Jackets: Columbus won for the third time in four games, and remained two points behind Montreal for the second wild card in the East.

Key moment After Nashville closed to 4-3 early in the second period, Columbus' Boone Jenner picked off Fedor Svechkov's pass toward the front of the goal, brought the puck up the middle and found a streaking Fantilli near the blue line. Fantille skated in and beat Saros to make it 5-3 with his fourth multigoal game of the season, and the Blue Jackets took off from there.

Key stat The eight goals by the Blue Jackets set a season high, and was their highest output since a 9-4 win at Buffalo on Dec. 19, 2023.

Up next Predators visit Dallas on Thursday, and Blue Jackets host Colorado.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal	1st Period 1:15	Kirill Marchenko Goal (29) Snap Shot, assists: Zach Werenski (53)
Goal	1st Period 16:34	Adam Fantilli Goal (23) Snap Shot, assists: Denton Mateychuk (7), Kent Johnson (25)
Goal	1st Period 18:10	Sean Monahan Goal (15) Slap Shot, assists: Kent Johnson (26), Zach Werenski (54)
Goal	1st Period 18:34	Filip Forsberg Goal (29) Wrist Shot, assists: Luke Evangelista (17), Ryan O'Reilly (28)
Goal	2nd Period 4:12	Kirill Marchenko Goal (30) Snap Shot, assists: Sean Monahan (31)
Goal	2nd Period 5:43	Michael Bunting Goal (17) Wrist Shot, assists: Fedor Svechkov (8), Luke Evangelista (18)
Goal	2nd Period 6:26	Justin Barron Goal (5) Slap Shot, assists: Jakub Vrana (5)
Goal	2nd Period 12:00	Adam Fantilli Goal (24) Wrist Shot, assists: Boone Jenner (11)
Goal	2nd Period 16:47	Sean Monahan Goal (16) Wrist Shot, assists: Kirill Marchenko (39), Boone Jenner (12)
Goal	2nd Period 19:41	Dante Fabbro Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Adam Fantilli (23), Kent Johnson (27)
Goal	3rd Period 5:23	Kirill Marchenko Goal (31) Slap Shot, assists: Sean Monahan (32), Dante Fabbro (15)
Goal	3rd Period 9:02	Jordan Oesterle Goal (2) Slap Shot, assists: Cole Smith (8), Michael McCarron (9)

Statistics

NSH		CBJ
14	Blocked Shots	12
10	Hits	22
2	Takeaways	6
28	Shots	37
0	Power Play Goals	2
4	Power Play Opportunities	5
0.0	Power Play Percentage	40.0
0	Short Handed Goals	0
0	Shootout Goals	0
26	Faceoffs Won	34
43.3	Faceoff Win Percent	56.7
11	Giveaways	12
8	Total Penalties	7
19	Penalty Minutes	17