Columbus Blue Jackets vs Nashville Predators Match Player Stats On Jan 14, 2021

Filip Forsberg scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Nashville Predators earned a 3-1 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday in the season opener for both teams.

At 5:48 of the third period, Forsberg took a short pass off a faceoff in his own end. Forsberg maneuvered his way down the boards and past two Blue Jackets players, completing the great individual effort by firing a wrist shot past Columbus goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

Three of the newest members of the Nashville roster recorded their first points in their team debuts. October trade acquisition Luke Kunin scored the Predators' first goal of the game while free agent signings Erik Haula and Brad Richardson tallied assists.

Calle Jarnkrok scored an empty-net goal for the Predators with 93 seconds remaining in the game, assisted by Roman Josi and Rocco Grimaldi.

Boone Jenner gave Columbus an early lead 9:24 into the first period after taking advantage of a pair of fortunate bounces.

A deflected puck toward center ice found Nashville's Dante Fabbro, but the puck skipped over Fabbro's stick while he was attempting a pass. Jenner was in position to take possession and streak in on a breakaway, burying the chance for the Blue Jackets' first goal of the season.

Kunin equalized 13:09 into the second period. A pass from Haula set up a two-on-one play between Kunin and Matt Duchene, with Kunin keeping the puck and converting the shot.

It took the Predators more than eight minutes to record their first shot of the game, but they ended up outshooting Columbus by a 35-30 margin.

Juuse Saros stopped 29 of 30 shots for the victory.

Korpisalo saved 32 of 34 shots. He got the starting nod over Elvis Merzlikins in the Jackets' opener, but the two Columbus goalies are expected to split time this season.

Thursday's game was the first of eight meetings between the two teams in the condensed 2021 schedule. The rematch takes place in quick fashion on Saturday, with the Predators again hosting the Blue Jackets in Nashville.

--Field Level Media