COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko scored three goals for his third career hat trick and added an assist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Nashville Predators 8-4 on Tuesday night.
Sean Monahan had two goals and two assists, Adam Fantilli had two goals and an assist, Dante Fabbro had a goal and an assist, and Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson each had two assists for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 shots.
Filip Forsberg, Michael Bunting, Justin Barron and Jordan Oesterle scored for Nashville, and Luke Evangelista had two assists. Juuse Saros gave up a season-high seven goals on 26 shots through two periods, and Justus Annunen had 10 saves in the third.
Marchenko scored from between the circles 1:15 into the game, Fantilli doubled the lead with 3:26 remaining in the first from the right circle, and Monahan made it 3-0 on the power play from nearly the same spot with 1:50 left in the period.
Forsberg got the Predators on the scoreboard 24 seconds later with his 29th of the season, but Marchenko got his second of the night at 4:12 of the second to restore Columbus' three-goal lead.
Bunting and Barron scored 43 seconds apart to pull Nashville to 4-3 at 6 1/2 minutes into the middle period.
Fantilli, Monahan and Fabbro all scored in the final 8 minutes of the period to help the Blue Jackets pull away, and Marchenko finished off his first hat trick since Dec. 19, 2023, at 5:23 of the third to make it 8-3.
Predators: Nashville, languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, has lost four straight and five of six.
Blue Jackets: Columbus won for the third time in four games, and remained two points behind Montreal for the second wild card in the East.
After Nashville closed to 4-3 early in the second period, Columbus' Boone Jenner picked off Fedor Svechkov's pass toward the front of the goal, brought the puck up the middle and found a streaking Fantilli near the blue line. Fantille skated in and beat Saros to make it 5-3 with his fourth multigoal game of the season, and the Blue Jackets took off from there.
The eight goals by the Blue Jackets set a season high, and was their highest output since a 9-4 win at Buffalo on Dec. 19, 2023.
Predators visit Dallas on Thursday, and Blue Jackets host Colorado.
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Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins celebrates after the Blue Jackets defeated the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL hockey game Friday, March 28, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks to bring a halt to fighting in Ukraine and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer.
Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting after a Kremlin official said on Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process.”
“Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine.
Lammy said that while Putin should be accepting a ceasefire, “he continues to bombard Ukraine. It’s civilian population. It’s energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing.”
Barrot said that Ukraine had accepted ceasefire terms three weeks ago, and that Russia now "owes an answer to the United States.” U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he promised last year to bring the war to a swift conclusion.
“Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes,” Barrot said. “It has to be ‘yes.’ It has to be ‘no.’ It has to be a quick answer.”
He said that Russia shows no intention of halting its military campaign, noting that Putin on Monday ordered a call-up intended to draft 160,000 conscripts for a one-year tour of compulsory military service.
The two foreign ministers pledged to continue helping to build up Ukraine’s armed forces – the country’s best security guarantee since the U.S. took any prospect of NATO membership off the table.
Coalition army chiefs were due to meet in Kyiv on Friday. Defense ministers from the group will meet at NATO headquarters next Thursday.
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrive to address the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot addresses the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy addresses the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot address the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot address the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
