Blue Jackets drop game to Predators

Mattias Ekholm scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, Juuse Saros stopped 35 shots and the Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, on Sunday night.

Ryan Ellis, Kevin Fiala and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Predators, who never trailed. James Neal and P.K. Subban each had a pair of assists.

Zach Werenski had a goal and two assists for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves. Brandon Saad and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the first time in three games. Seth Jones and Alexander Wennberg had two assists apiece.

Ellis opened the scoring 2:24 into the game with a one-timer from just below the blue line. He got an assist from fellow defenseman Roman Josi, who set him up with a nice pass from right point.

Columbus got plenty of promising looks in the first period and outshot Nashville 19-7, including four shots on a power play, but couldn’t find the back of the net. MONSTERS WIN IN IOWA

>> The visiting Monsters beat the Iowa Wild, 2-0, as Kyle Thomas and T.J. Tynan scored third-period goals for Cleveland (24-20-2-4).

Monsters goaltender Anton Forsberg posted his second shutout of the season, making 28 saves. Baseball PUJOLS EYEING OPENING

DAY >> Albert Pujols is almost ready to get a running start on the second half of his mega-contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Pujols is making steady progress in his recovery from foot surgery. The three-time NL MVP is doing rehabilitation work at the Angels’ spring training complex with the goal of being ready to play on opening day.

“It’s been really good,” Pujols told reporters on Sunday. “No soreness at all afterward. That’s a good sign, anytime you get to start hitting in the cage and moving around and doing agility (drills). I expect myself to probably get a little sore when I get on the field, because it’s a different movement than being on carpet or whatever. I don’t think I’ll have any setbacks.”

Pujols is running on a weight-minimizing treadmill and swinging in the cage while the Angels take a deliberate approach to his health during their extra-long spring training.

Pujols had surgery on his right foot in December after a less invasive

treatment program didn’t work quickly enough, but he believes he can be back in playing form in April. Golf COUPLES WINS CHAMPIONS EVENT >> Fred Couples won the Chubb Classic for his 12th PGA Tour Champions title and first since 2014, rallying to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez at TwinEagles.

The 57-year-old Couples shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 to finish at 16-under 200 on the Talon Course, three strokes ahead of secondround leader Jimenez.

“It’s never easy to win a golf tournament,” Couples said. “This is a good course. You have to hit a lot of good shots.”

Also the 2010 event winner at The Quarry, Couples won for the first time since the 2014 Shaw Charity Classic in Alberta. The Hall of Famer, long hampered by back problems, won 15 times on the PGA Tour — his lone major coming in the 1992 Masters.

“I felt a little pressure, but I wasn’t under gobs of pressure because you’ve just got to keep making birdies,” Couples said.

“Sometimes when you’re trying to make pars it’s hard to hit really, really quality shots to make pars.”

Couples had three birdies on the front nine, and matched Jimenez’s birdies on the par-4 14th and par-5 17th. Jimenez, a stroke ahead of playing partners Couples and Kevin Sutherland entering the round, shot a 71. The 53-year-old Spaniard bogeyed the par-4 18th. College basketball MSU’S HARRIS LOST TO

INJURY >> Michigan State starting guard Eron Harris will need seasonending surgery on his injured right knee, ending his college career.

Harris, a 6-foot-3 transfer who played his first two seasons at West Virginia, was hurt in the second half of Michigan State’s 80-63 loss at No. 16 Purdue on Saturday. Harris had an MRI and the diagnosis was that surgery was required.

“We all feel absolutely awful for Eron,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said in a statement Sunday.

“As I said last night, I couldn’t ask for more than what Eron has given me and this program. Over the last month he’s grown even more as a leader and been an example to his young teammates. And maybe I didn’t even fully grasp it until I walked on the court and saw the admiration his teammates had for him and the tears in their eyes.”