NASHVILLE – Losing the finsl game of the regular season to the Nashville Predators helped the Blue Jackets avoid opening the playoffs against Pittsburgh for a second straight year and instead put them into a first-round series with Washington.
Filip Forsberg scored three goals for Nashville’s first hat trick of the season, and the Predators finished off the best regular season in franchise history by beating Columbus 4-2 Saturday night.
With the loss, the Blue Jackets won the first wild-card spot in yhe Eastern Conference.
Coach John Tortorella scratched nine Blue Jackets including captain Nick Foligno and defenseman Seth Jones, and also rested goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with Joonas Korpisalo in net. Tortorella is giving the Blue Jackets the day off Sunday.
“I’ve got some decisions to make,” Tortorella said of playing Washington. “I have a pretty good idea of what I think the starting lineup will be in our first playoff game, but I’ve got decision to make in case we’ve got injuries.”
Josh Anderson got his 19th goal at 7:55 of the second, and Brandon Dubinsky pulled Columbus within 3-2 with a short-handed goal at 7:20 of the third.
The Predators scored three goals in the first period with Austin Watson starting the scoring at 7:52 of the first and Forsberg adding a pair on the power play.
Forsberg scored on a snap shot at 11:04. Then he got his 26th goal of the season just before the buzzer for a 3-0 lead with a shot from the right circle that went off the post and then Korpisalo into the net. Officials reviewed the play, which crossed at 0.4 seconds before the end of the period.
The Predators will begin their run for the Cup against the Colorado Avalanche.