FINAL: Predators 5, Blue Jackets 2

The Blue Jackets fell to 0-2 on the season with a 5-2 loss at Nashville on Saturday night in Bridgestone Arena.
Game in a Paragraph
Much like the season opener between the teams Thursday night, Columbus took a 1-0 lead in the first period only to see Nashville respond to tie the score, and it stayed 1-1 through two periods of play. The teams then traded goals early in the third before the Predators pulled away with three straight goals in the final 10 minutes.

Quote of the Game
CBJ forward Cam Atkinson: "Listen, it sucks losing, but I thought we played overall a really, really good game compared to the first game. We got our feet wet. The first game wasn't our prettiest, but we did a lot of good things that we discussed after that game and we showed it. We're going to watch a lot of tape, but we did a lot of good things. We just have to clean up the little things that cost us goals."
CBJ Standouts

Quick Recap
Columbus came out strong for the second game in a row, not allowing Nashville a shot on goal in the first five minutes and earning an early power play that forced a few good stops out of Predators goalie Juuse Saros.
But the Blue Jackets did get the lead at the 7:58 mark with Foligno's opening tally, the end result of a strong offensive possession for Columbus. Alexandre Texier and Del Zotto worked a nice give-and-go that ended with Del Zotto driving to the net and putting a shot on Saros whose rebound sat in the crease, and Foligno poked it the final few inches across the line for the goal.
Nashville responded, though, with an equalizer off the stick of Rocco Grimaldi making it 1-1 at 9:43. The Preds forward skated nearly the length of the ice with the puck and let go a slap shot from the right circle that got between the far arm of Elvis Merzlikins and the goalie's body to tie the score.
Columbus had a few chances to retake the lead later in the first, but Riley Nash drilled the post and Ryan Ellis dove into the crease to deny an open-net chance for Pierre-Luc Dubois with Saros down and out.
Both teams had some excellent chances late in the second and thought they had scored, but it stayed a 1-1 game through the middle frame. Luke Kunin tried to slide home a rebound in the crease for Nashville after a shot from Ryan Ellis, but Merzlikins got a piece of it and the whistle blew before the Preds eventually pushed the puck across the line. Moments later, Del Zotto went for another mark on the scoresheet, but his rebound chance got behind Saros but skittered across the crease and out the back side.
The goals came quickly in the third, as Nashville took a 2-1 lead early in the frame before Columbus tied it. Just like on Thursday night, Nashville's Filip Forsberg gave the Preds the advantage early in the period on a 2-on-1 goal, as he picked Zach Werenski's pocket, came in on the rush and beat Merzlikins over the glove at 1:43.
But Columbus tied it at 5:47 on a nifty play by a pair of youngsters. Liam Foudy took the puck at the left point on the rush, stopped to let the play develop, then advanced up the wall before shooting through a screen. From there, Texier got a piece of the puck and redirected it over Saros to make it a 2-2 game.
Nashville had the answer, with Brad Richardson restoring the Preds' lead with exactly 9:00 to play. It was a bit of a weird play, as Merzlikins made a pair of saves on bouncing shots by Mattias Ekholm, but the rebound of the second went to Richardson at the doorstep to stuff home and make it 3-2.
And as Columbus tried to push for the equalizer, the Preds pulled away with goals on consecutive shots to make it 5-2. Luke Kunin scored for the second time in as many games, tallying in transition at 14:28 off a nice feed from Nick Cousins, and then Colton Sissons got behind the defense just 54 seconds later and slid the puck around Merzlikins on a pass from Viktor Arvidsson.
3 Takeaways
1. A better game: If you're a Blue Jackets fan, it was undoubtedly a frustrating evening, as the Predators took advantage of Columbus mistakes while posting a four-goal third period. But from the team's perspective, it wasn't that bad an evening. Obviously the result was disappointing, but as Atkinson said above, the energy and the play was a better showing than in the opener. Columbus had at least 13 shots on goal in all three periods, had a 2.5-1.41 edge in expected goals at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick, and forced Nashville's Saros into 42 saves on 44 shots. "The whole game, he made some unbelievable stops," Atkinson said. Even John Tortorella chalked this one up to frustration with the result rather than disappointment in the play. "I'm looking at some of the encouraging stuff we did tonight," the head coach said. "We developed 25 scoring chances. Do we need to clean up some stuff? Sure, but I'm encouraged by a lot of different things with our hockey club tonight."
2. Snakebit: The good news was the 44 shots on goal. The bad news was just two of them went in, and while Saros did have an exemplary evening, Columbus didn't do much to overturn last season's narrative that goals are going to be hard to come by. Atkinson, in particular, came out firing, putting six shots on goal in the first period including some early power-play chances. "I thought myself personally, I took a lot of really good steps int he right direction as far as how I want to play compared to the last game," he said. "Obviously I would love to score, but I know it's going to come." The whole team might want have that vibe, as three goals in the first two games -- including zero for the top line -- isn't what Columbus was hoping for when the coaching staff wanted a more wide-open attack this year.
3. Odd-man crushed: Especially because on the other end of the ice, the Blue Jackets have been bedeviled by odd-man rushes -- 2-on-1s, breakaways, etc. -- so far this year. The team's defensive coverage in transition has been sloppy at times, and turnovers -- like the one Werenski committed before the Forsberg goal -- have ended up in the back of the net. Is it because of the strategic tweaks, because the team is shaking off early-season rust, because of dumb luck, or some combinaton of all three? Probably the latter answer, but the hope is it'll get fixed soon. "It seems like a quick turnover, wrong place, not picking up your man, those odd-man rushes seem to be going in the back of our net, so we need to clean that up and we'll be good," Atkinson said.
Notable
Columbus held a 28-22 edge in shots on goal through two periods; it was a 27-22 edge for the CBJ on Thursday night. ... Merzlikins finished with 28 stops. ... Foligno also finished with six shots on goal to tie Atkinson for the team lead, while Werenski had five. … Del Zotto had five points in 25 games with Nashville in 2013-14. ... For the second straight game, Columbus was 0-2 on the power play while Nashville was 0-3. … Boone Jenner saw his four-game goal streak against Nashville come to an end. … Columbus fell to 0-2-0 for the fourth time in the past six seasons (2015-16, 2016-17, 2019-20).
Roster Report
The Blue Jackets used the same 18-skater lineup as Thursday's season opener, with the only change the insertion of Merzlikins in net. Forward Kevin Stenlund and defensemen Scott Harrington and Gabriel Carlsson were healthy scratches.
Up Next
The Blue Jackets head to Detroit for games Monday and Tuesday in the Motor City, with the teams skating Martin Luther King Day at noon in a game that will be televised nationally on NBCSN.