Nashville takes another bite out of Jackets
By Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired


Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock sensed during the morning
skate Monday that his team may be if for a long night.

His fear was correct as the Jackets played with no energy, got down
early, and fell 4-1 to the Nashville Predators in front of 12,154 at
Nationwide Arena. It was the 10th straight win for Nashville over
Columbus.

"We didn't have the energy that we've had," Hitchcock said. "We
didn't have the energy all day. We had some people try hard today,
but we had some very poor performances by people that usually give us
consistent performances."

Martin Erat scored two goals and two assists for the Predators, while
J.P. Dumont added two goals and an assist. Chris Mason made 29 saves
for the win. Erat's four points is a career high.

David Vyborny scored for the Jackets, his first of the season, and
Pascal Leclaire stopped 27 shots. Columbus is winless in four games
after gaining a point in the previous six games.

"We have to find a way to get back to playing a full game," Leclaire
said. "We have find a way to cut down the turnovers, but I don't
think it's been a problem this year. Sometimes (there's) bad luck and
it hits a skate, but it comes back to competing and being ready to
play a full game."

Dumont tapped in the Predators first goal off a shot from Jason
Arnott at 6:39 of the first. Dumont beat Jackets captain Adam Foote
to the puck in front of the net on the goal.

The Jackets got the goal back 15 seconds later when Dan Hamhuis
turned the puck over deep in the zone off pressure from Sergei
Fedorov and Vyborny hit a wrist shot under the glove of Nashville
goaltender Chris Mason.

"We were able to capitalize on a couple of chances and created some
things down low," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "It was a high
paced game on both ends, and I think both teams played really hard."

The Predators regained the lead at 12:33 when Erat skated on the goal
line, slipped back Rostislav Klesla and deposited the goal past
Leclaire.

Dumont scored his second of the game at 11:43 of the third after Ole-
Kristian Tollefsen slipped with the puck, giving Nashville a 3-1 lead.

"You can't blame the ice, I just fell," Tollefsen said. "It sucks. It
happens once a year and hopefully, I'm done with it right now."

Erat added an empty net goal with 28 seconds remaining in the game.

Nashville outshot Columbus 31-30. Neither team scored on the power play.

Columbus hosts Chicago Wednesday night at 7 p.m.