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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - With the season Geoff Sanderson is having
for Columbus, it was only fitting he scored the expansion
franchise's first hat trick.
Sanderson had two goals in the first period, then got the winner
with 8:30 remaining as the Blue Jackets beat the Nashville
Predators 3-2 Saturday night.
"He's red-hot. He went to the net about as much as you can
without interfering with the goalie tonight," Columbus coach Dave
King said of Sanderson. "He was on the doorstep with a lot of
those goals."
He swept in from the left boards and whipped a low back-hander
through the pads of screened goaltender Mike Dunham with 8:30
remaining for his team-leading 26th goal.
It was the seventh hat trick of his career.
"It was a nice feeling. The big picture is we won a huge game
tonight," Sanderson said, who is four goals shy of becoming the
third player to score 30 or more goals for an expansion team since
1991.
The victory pulled expansion Columbus to .500 at Nationwide
Arena (13-13-2-2) for the first time and kept its home points
streak alive at six games (4-0-1-1).
The Blue Jackets, who had their eight-game overall points streak
end (4-0-2-2) in a 3-1 loss at Nashville on Thursday night, snapped
the third-year Predators' franchise-best four-game winning streak.
"Their team came with a lot of energy," Nashville coach Barry
Trotz said. "They're a lot different at home than when they're on
the road."
Nashville remained two points behind Edmonton (59) for the
eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
"We kept things simple back there, we didn't make any foolish
plays," said Ron Tugnutt, who made 26 stops to improve to 5-0-2-1
in his last eight starts. "They did their jobs and I did mine. We
did exactly what we had to do tonight."
King was pleased with his team's composure Saturday, a soft spot
as of late.
Columbus entered the game having been outscored 20-6 in the
final two minutes of each period.
"I really liked our poise late in the game," King said. "In
the last four or five minutes of the game with the lead there was
no panic."
Nashville couldn't pull even with a man advantage on a tripping
penalty to Mattias Timander. The Predators ended up 0-for-4 on the
power play.
"It was disappointing tonight; hopefully we can bounce back,"
Walker said. "You can't expect to win every game."
The Predators' Kimmo Timonen tied the game at 2 early in the
final period. Standing alone at the left circle, Timonen redirected
David Legwand's point pass over Tugnutt's pads.
Sanderson scored Columbus' first power-play goal in 10 tries
against Nashville to open the scoring.
Steve Heinze curled between two Predators defensemen on his way
to the high slot. After a poke check, Sanderson picked up the loose
puck and snapped it through a maze of players inside the right
goalpost.
The Predators responded 38 seconds later on a broken play. Deep
in his end, Blue Jackets forward Robert Kron failed to corral a
bouncing puck. The Predators' Scott Walker pounced on it and
floated a shot over Tugnutt's left shoulder for his team leading
17th goal.
Late in the first period, Sanderson struck again. With a
defenseman draped on his back in the crease, Sanderson tipped-in
Deron Quint's centering pass from the right corner at 19:19.
"He's got the magic touch right now and a few guys would like
to get some of that, too," King said of Sanderson.
Dunham, who made 25 saves, lost for only the second time in his
last nine decisions.
"The two teams play hard against each other and it's going to
be a terrific rivalry for a long time," King said. "They've got a
team that will probably look a lot like our team will in a few
years ... really hard-working and a young team that's going to be
really good."
Game notes
Coming in, the Blue Jackets had only two wins in 13 games
(2-7-2-2) against the Central Division. Both victories were against
Nashville. ... The sellout crowd of 18,136 was Columbus' third in a
row and 15th overall. ... Columbus wore blue road jerseys at home
for the first time. ... Nashville failed to score a power-play goal
for the first time in five games.
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Pittsburgh 5
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Florida 7
Atlanta 3
Boston 6
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NY Islanders 3
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Ottawa 1
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Geoff Sanderson was on his way to a hat trick with a goal in the first period.
avi: 695 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kimmo Timonen redirects David Legwand's pass for a Predators' goal.
avi: 575 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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