Longtime Blue Jackets nemesis Steve Sullivan had three goals for the seventh time in his career, leading the Nashville Predators past host Columbus, 5-3, last night.

In just 39 career games against the Blue Jackets, Sullivan has 16 goals and 27 assists -- more points than against any other opponent in his 797-game career.

Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Jones also had goals for the Predators, who have won all three meetings this season, the first two by matching 4-3 shootout scores.

Antoine Vermette, Jakub Voracek and R.J. Umberger scored for Columbus, which has won only two of its past 13 games.

The Predators have dominated the Blue Jackets throughout the nine-year series, going 8-2-2 in their past 12 visits to Columbus in addition to winning their past 13 at home.

• Flyers 3, Bruins 1: Kimmo Timonen broke a third-period tie with 9:32 left, then added a short-handed empty-netter to lead visiting Philadelphia to a victory at Boston in a preview of the Winter Classic. Brian Boucher stopped 26 shots for the Flyers, who had lost 10 of their past 12 and entered the night tied for the second-fewest points in the NHL. Vladimir Sobotka scored for Boston, and also had a first-period goal negated by an early whistle. Tim Thomas, making just his fifth start in a month because of an undisclosed injury, made 35 saves for the Bruins. The longtime rivals are scheduled to meet again on New Year's Day at Fenway Park in the third annual Winter Classic outdoor game.

• Panthers 7, Islanders 1: Nathan Horton scored three times for his second career hat trick and visiting Florida Panthers routed New York. Michal Repik, Stephen Weiss, Kamil Kreps and Radek Dvorak added goals as the Panthers (13-14-7) won for just the third time in 13 games. Jesse Joensuu scored his first goal of the season for the Islanders (12-14-7), which lost for the fourth time in the past five games.

• Thrashers 3, Rangers 2: Former Penguins goaltender Johan Hedberg made 46 saves and then was perfect in two shootout rounds to lift visiting Atlanta to a road victory against New York.

• Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2: Jimmy Howard made 30 saves and Kris Newbury, Patrick Eaves and Derek Meech scored to lift host Detroit past Phoenix.

• Maple Leafs 3, Senators 2: Francois Beauchemin scored 6 minutes into the third period for host Toronto.

• Sabres 4, Canadiens 3 Clarke MacArthur scored for visiting Buffalo.

• Canucks 3, Kings 1: Roberto Luongo made 24 saves for host Vancouver.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.