Luke Evangelista scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves as the Nashville Predators pushed their point streak to 11 games with Saturday’s 2-1 road victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With the score tied at 1-1, Evangelista streaked down the wing with the puck, waited for some support while marked, then unleashed a tough-angled shot that neatly cleared the shoulder of Columbus netminder Daniil Tarasov at 4:16 into the third period, extending his career-high goal total to 13.
Columbus native Kiefer Sherwood, who was once invited to the Blue Jackets’ development camp before attending Miami (Ohio) University, tallied a career-best eighth goal.
Lankinen was stout, especially late, for the Predators, whose 10-0-1 stretch is the third-longest point streak in franchise history.
Owner of the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, Nashville has won a season-high six straight on the road.
Tarasov matched a career high with 47 saves and Alexandre Texier scored his 10th of the season for the Blue Jackets, who had won three of the previous four.
Columbus delivered a strong effort one day after longtime club favorites Jack Roslovic and Andrew Peeke were dealt prior to Friday’s trade deadline.
Nashville recorded the game’s first 17 shots on goal and was rewarded for a dominant first period with 7:41 remaining before the initial intermission. Off an own-zone faceoff, which Columbus initially won, Sherwood gained control of the puck and skated down boards, broke toward the net and beat Tarasov to open the scoring.
Columbus recorded nine of the final 11 overall shots on goal in the first period. It then leveled the contest 1:50 into the second period, when Texier flipped in a rebound of Ivan Provorov’s drive to extend his point streak to five games.
After Nashville regained the lead, Lankinen was up to the task. He stopped all 11 Columbus shots in the third, highlighted by a sliding, reach-back save of Johnny Gaudreau’s wrister with 18 seconds left in regulation.
–Field Level Media
