Alex Radulov sets two career-highs last night

Alexander Radulov set two career-highs last night in Nashville’s 4-2 victory over Columbus at the Sommet Center: his 19th goal surpassed his previous high, set in his rookie year of 2006-07(18) and upped his goal streak to five consecutive games. This is Radulov’s second goal-scoring streak of at least three games-he previously had a three-game streak from December 26-29. Radulov currently leads Nashville in goals and is third in points. Alex will go for his sixth straight game with a goal when Nashville faces Phoenix Saturday night in Nashville.

Arnott line piles up points

Recent offense helps Preds climb in West

By JESSICA HOPP

Staff Writer

At some point in the third period, J.P. Dumont looked up at the scoreboard and saw that Vancouver had been defeated.

Knowing that if his team hung on for a win over Columbus it could move into an eighth-place tie with the Canucks in the Western Conference, Dumont was afforded a brief moment of elation.
The trick now is to hang onto that feeling.

As talk of the playoff race trickled through the dressing room following Thursday’s 4-2 win, the theme was evident — with 30 games remaining the Predators control their fate.

“We are kind of lucky right now to be in the position we are in,” Dumont said. “We have our own destiny, and it’s going to be a great race. We put ourselves in that position, now we have to make sure we finish it.”

Doing that may hinge largely on Dumont and his linemates, Jason Arnott and Alexander Radulov.

Behind the play of the trio the Predators have ascended the conference standings and put themselves in contention.

Thursday night was just one example, as it took just seconds for Radulov to put the Predators on the board.

In a nice tic-tac-toe play that started with Dan Hamhuis’ pass from the point and continued with a pass off Dumont’s stick to the crease, Radulov one-timed a shot past the glove side of Columbus goaltender Pascal LeClaire to give the Predators a 1-0 lead 26 seconds into the contest.

The score set a career high in goals for Radulov, who has 19. It also extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, surpassing his previous career high of four, and setting the tone for the evening.

“It helped give our team momentum and was beneficial to us,” Predators Coach Barry Trotz said.