Young rookie Jet Greaves was in net tonight for Columbus against a mixed Nashville squad, and the short version of the recap is: he did not have an enjoyable night. The Preds needed that, though, as they had discipline issues late.
The Blue Jackets opened the scoring with a neat wrister from James Matalesta just over two minutes in, but the Preds came back strongly, with Luke Evangelista setting up Tommy Novak for a goal on the next shift. A Kirill Marchenko tripping penalty gave the Preds a power play, and Roman Josi scored off the faceoff to make it 2-1 Preds at 4:19.
While Columbus tried to push back, and managed to get some possession time, Novak added a second goal of his own at 13:25. Late in the period, Jaret Anderson-Dolan (playing his first game in gold) took a nasty-looking hit along the boards from Mathieu Olivier, and Kiefer Sherwood and Luke Schenn both took exception. Schenn and Olivier fought, and took a seat for the rest of the period and the start of the next.
The Blue Jackets closed in on the Preds in the final shifts of the period, hemming them in their own zone before a heroic clear from Cody Glass. On their return, Johnny Gaudreau set up a great play and almost managed to score a buzzer-beater, but it went off both posts and out, and the Preds escaped to intermission to jubilation from the crowd.
While the Preds got out to a slow start to the second as well, Glass tipped an Alex Carrier shot five minutes in. They needed that, as Damon Severson made a great defensive play that set Alexandre Texier up for a goal at the other end. 4-2, at 10:23.
Glass drew a penalty not long after, sending Alex Nylander to the box for high-sticking and the Preds back to the power play. Filip Forsberg, with brilliant vision and patience, responded to getting his stick tied up by positioning his skate to let a Josi pass deflect in off the blade. It wasn’t a distinct kicking motion, and the goal stood.
Roman Josi added his second of the night on a spectacular play, collecting another great pass from Evangelista and stickhandling his way through a phone booth and scoring–as he was knocked off his feet–past a very dispirited Greaves. Sherwood almost added a seventh on a breakaway, but broke his own stick instead.
Again the Blue Jackets finished the period strong, with another great look by Gaudreau, but Saros had the save. Kevin Lankinen had to briefly swap in while Saros had a problem with his skate, and moments later Carrier went awkwardly into the boards after a check from Olivier and headed down the tunnel as well. Saros returned, but Carrier did not.
Not long after, Trey Fix-Wolansky collected a very nice pass from Justin Danforth and scored a third for the Blue Jackets. Columbus didn’t go away, and Josi and Ryan McDonagh had to do some valiant defensive work of their own to keep them from adding to the score. At the other end, Greaves was making some sharp saves as the Preds tried to restore the wider margin.
Nashville got a chance to stabilize on the power play, as Ryan O’Reilly drew a penalty from Texier, but the Blue Jackets came in strongly shorthanded. Jason Zucker took a penalty, negating the Preds’ skater advantage, but the Preds killed it off. Play continued to get sloppier as the final minutes of the period ticked down, with Saros having to make a showstopping save at one point.
With thirty seconds left, Fix-Wolansky scored his second of the night, but that was it for the scoring.