Final Score: Predators 5 – Blue Jackets 1
Game Summary
With the way the Jackets have been playing of late, it almost felt like they were due for a clunker like this. Nashville flat out dominated. They piled up 48 shots on Joonas Korpisalo and only allowed 19 against Pekka Rinne. Not surprised to see the Predators come away with a 5-1 win after that performance.
For whatever reason, the Jackets just did not have it tonight. Right from the get go you could tell this was going to be a long night. The Predators had 27 shots in the first period. 27! That’s more than the Jackets had the whole game! At 5 on 5 Nashville had a 67% Corsi and controlled 71% of the scoring chances. As good as the Jackets were against Carolina last game, they were equally as bad tonight.
The Jackets scored one goal and of course the guy who has been scoring all year gets it, in Boone Jenner. Like many of Jenner’s goals they were scored with him close to the net and in the crease area. Boone made a real nice play to keep the puck in the zone. He then passed it to Brandon Saad and went towards the net. Saad’s shot was stopped by Rinne but tricked through him, and Boone was right there to put it home.
For Boone that was his 28th of the season and gives him a two goal cushion over Cam Atkinson for the team lead. It would be great if both he and Cam could hit 30.
Korpisalo received the start in goal. Sergei Bobrovksy had started the last two so it was nice to see Korpi get in there and get some time. Unfortunately it didn’t go as planned, though the goalie is the last guy at fault for a game like this. The team in front of him was just awful. No team is expected to win after they allow 48 shots on goal.
The big story entering the game was the Ryan Johansen – Seth Jones trade. This was the first match up for these two post trade. Johansen got the better of Jones tonight. Not only getting the win but also picking up an assist on the Preds first goal. As a Predator, Johansen has been very good. In 35 games he has scored seven goals and picked up 19 assists. He's been nearly identical to the player he was in Columbus. I don’t know what Nashville fans were expecting but hopefully there are happy with the production Johansen has provided.
Jones played 25:37, the most by any player, but did not record a point. Jacket fans have to be happy with what Jones has provided. He's been as advertised. He immediately became the top guy and has logged a ton of minutes. His offensive game has picked up too; he's already put up five more points than he did in Nashville in six less games.
Fedor Tyutin was banged up after Thursday’s game and did not make the trip to Nashville. Dean Kukan was recalled and made his NHL debut. Kukan was a free agent pickup by the Jackets out of the Swedish Hockey League. In 29 games with Lake Erie the native of Zurich Switzerland, had three goals and seven assists. He played 14:45 tonight which was the lowest among defencemen.
Stat of the Night
Stats courtesy of HockeyStats.ca, War On Ice, and Hockey Reference.
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