Lankinen makes 39 saves, Predators hold off Blue Jackets

NASHVILLE --Kevin Lankinen made 39 saves for the Nashville Predators in a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

It was his first start since Jan. 6 and the first time he won consecutive starts this season.
"I was just more excited [than rusty]," Lankinen said. "I wanted to enjoy. It's a special building to play in. I think the crowd is always cheering for you and it's a fun building to play. I was just looking forward to it and proud of the way the guys battled and got two points out of it."

Cody Glass and Yakov Trenin scored for the Predators (21-17-6), who finished a three-game homestand 2-1-0, including a 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames on Monday in which goalie Juuse Saros made 38 saves, 21 in the third period.
"Yeah, we're fully taking advantage of [our goalies], that's for sure," Glass said. "You almost feel bad to a certain extent, because they're the reason we're kind of winning games right now. If we can help them out and get them less shots, I feel like we'll put our team in a really good spot."
Gustav Nyquist scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 26 saves in his first start since Dec. 23 for the Blue Jackets (13-29-2), who have lost five of six and are 3-14-0 in their past 17 games.
"We had 20-plus scoring chances; that's a good night," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "You [only] get one goal, you tip your cap to their goalie. They defend hard, they make you work for your ice, but I thought we did a good job of getting inside, especially in the third [period]. You'd like to see us put a few more up on the board there, but that's how it goes."

Glass gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 5:42 of the second period, spinning in the right face-off circle and scoring stick side after receiving a pass from Filip Forsberg.
Glass played on a line with Forsberg and Matt Duchene, who has an assist in each of the past two games and four of five.
"It's really nice," Glass said. "They're really skilled players, where they can find you all over the ice. We could have had multiple goals tonight. We got the one, but I love the chances we're generating. We're playing more offense than defense, so that's a really good feeling."

Trenin made it 2-0 at 16:55 with a one-timer off a pass by Roman Josi from below the goal line.
Nyquist cut it to 2-1 at 9:01 of the third, scoring one second after a power play for the Blue Jackets expired. He poked in the puck at the left post after it was swatted across the crease by Emil Bemstrom.
"We've got to find a way to score more goals," Nyquist said. "One goal is not going to cut it. Their goalie made some saves, but it's no excuse. We've got to bear down and score some more goals too."
Lankinen made 15 saves on 16 shots in the third, including consecutive saves on shots from the high slot by Columbus defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov at 16:33 and forward Cole Sillinger at 16:36.

NOTES:Predators forward Juuso Parssinen had his seven-game point streak end (two goals, seven assists). … Josi extended his point streak to four games (two goals, two assists). ... Sillinger had three shots on goal and four hits in 14:16 of ice time after being a healthy scratch for two games. … The Blue Jackets went 0-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-14 in the past six games.