"We played a loose game," Head Coach John Hynes said. "We got up early and then in the second period alone we gave up seven odd man rushes, five 5-on-5 and two on the power play. Tonight in particular, our puck decisions and our puck play were lacking and our attention to detail without the puck was lacking. And when you want to play that type of game, odds are you're going to lose."
The Preds got on the board just 3:16 into the first period when Jeannot scored his second goal in as many games, assisted by Sissons and Trenin. Ryan Johansen scored his second of the season minutes later, backhanding the puck into the net with assists from Nino Niederreiter and Mattias Ekholm.
The Predators managed to stay out of the penalty box in the first period but came up empty handed on the man advantage over the course of the game.
Roman Josi found the back of the net for what would have been his first goal of the season, but the play was overturned on a successful offside challenge by Columbus.
Jake Bean got the Blue Jackets on the board with a snap shot on the power play at 16:09 of the second period, but Yakov Trenin responded just 90 seconds later with an even-strength goal - his first of the season - that extended Nashville's lead to 3-1 heading into the second intermission.
Johnny Gaudreau scored on the breakaway less than a minute into the third period to cut Nashville's lead to 3-2. Justin Danforth then snapped a shot past Lankinen at 12:07 to even the score at 3-3, and Nick Blankenburg made it 4-3 with 1:23 to go in regulation. Gaudreau scored into the empty net for a 5-3 final.
"It's difficult when a team can play pretty loose and ultra aggressive when they're down a few goals, especially at home," Sissons said. "The momentum swings a lot. We've just got to be more poised and more confident in our game, even when they're bringing all that pressure. We can make plays without a lot of time and space and just by trusting each other, and we just froze up under the pressure."
The Predators are back in action Saturday at Bridgestone Arena, where they will host the Philadelphia Flyers.
