Columbus faces Nashville, looks to halt 4-game skid
Columbus Blue Jackets (8-9-5, fifth in the Central Division) vs. Nashville Predators (9-11-0, seventh in the Central Division)
Nashville, Tennessee; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Columbus heads into the matchup with Nashville after losing four straight games.
The Predators are 9-11-0 in division games. Nashville averages 9.1 penalty minutes per game, the eighth-most in the Nhl. Mark Borowiecki leads the team serving 34 total minutes.
The Blue Jackets are 8-9-5 against the rest of their division. Columbus has converted on 18.2% of power-play opportunities, recording 10 power-play goals.
The teams meet for the second straight game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Filip Forsberg leads the Predators with 18 points, scoring nine goals and registering nine assists. Mattias Ekholm has two goals over the last 10 games for Nashville.
Cam Atkinson leads the Blue Jackets with nine goals and has 17 points. Patrik Laine has 9 points over the last 10 games for Columbus.
LAST 10 GAMES: Predators: 4-6-0, averaging 1.8 goals, 2.9 assists, 3.2 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game with a .912 save percentage.
Blue Jackets: 3-5-2, averaging three goals, 5.4 assists, 2.7 penalties and 6.3 penalty minutes while allowing 3.5 goals per game with an .887 save percentage.
INJURIES: Predators: None listed.
Blue Jackets: Elvis Merzlikins: out (upper body).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.