Zherdev, 21, is leading the Blue Jackets in goals and ranks second on the club in points with 27-27-54 and 50 penalty minutes in 73 games this season. The club's top pick, fourth overall, in the 2003 Entry Draft has registered 40-48-88 and 104 penalty minutes in 130 career games. He picked up 13-21-34 in 57 games as a rookie in 2003-04.

Fritsche, 20, has appeared in 51 games with Columbus this season and tallied four goals and five assists for nine points with 22 penalty minutes. He has also collected 3-4-7 with 12 penalty minutes and a +3 plus/minus rating in 18 AHL games with the Crunch.

Columbus' second pick, 46th overall, in the 2003 Entry Draft, Fritsche has registered 5-5-10 and 34 penalty minutes in 70 career NHL games. He spent most of the past four years playing in the Ontario Hockey League, where he picked up 71-84-155 and 143 penalty minutes in 135 games with Sarnia and London. He helped the Knights win the 2005 Memorial Cup championship and also represented Team USA at the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Championships, winning a gold medal in 2004.

The nhl Blue Jackets return to action tonight vs. the Nashville Predators at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Game time is set for 8 p.m. (ET) with live coverage on the Blue Jackets Radio Network and flagship stations WBNS-AM (Sports Radio 1460 the Fan) and WWCD-FM (CD 101).

Fredrik Sjostrom and Mike Comrie also tallied goals for the Coyotes, who have won two straight and three of their last four games.

Curtis Joseph stopped 31 shots in the win for Phoenix. Also, Joseph picked up his 423rd career victory, which puts him in a tie for sixth place with Blackhawks legend Tony Esposito.

Adam Foote and Sergei Fedorov tallied goals and Pascal Leclaire stopped 31 shots in the loss for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped their fifth-straight game.

The Blue Jackets grabbed a 1-0 lead thanks to the power play. Good cycling behind the net enabled Rick Nash to get the puck and he fired a centering pass to Foote, who one-timed it from the slot into the right corner of the net 7:29 into the contest.

Columbus struck again during a scrum in front of the net when Fedorov poked the puck under Joseph's pads for his eighth goal of the season with 9:03 left in the opening 20 minutes.

The Coyotes, though, cut the score in half late in the first period. Oleg Kvasha brought the puck into the Blue Jackets zone and left a drop pass to Johnson at the top of the left circle. Johnson skated to the left face-off stripe and fired a wrister that knicked off of Leclaire's glove and into the net with 6.9 seconds left in the period.

Phoenix grabbed itself a 3-2 lead in the middle stanza.

Doan brought the puck around the net and, from the left side, threw a centering pass to Reinprecht, who one-timed it into the left corner of the net 6:12 into the period.

On the power play, Geoff Sanderson and Jamie Rivers were playing catch with the puck between the bottom and top of the right circle. From the top, Rivers slid the puck to the left circle where Doan one-timed it through a screen into the net with 10:09 left in the period.

The Coyotes gave themselves a two-goal advantage when Sjostrom poked in a rebound off a Reinprecht shot to make it 4-2 just 4:02 into the final period.

Phoenix iced the game with Comrie's 24th goal with 53.6 seconds remaining in the contest.

Simon has appeared in 11 NHL games with the Blue Jackets this season, recording four penalty minutes and seven shots on goal. The Shaker Heights, Ohio native has also skated in 54 AHL games this year, scoring 12-19-31 with 65 penalty minutes, three power-play goals, and four shorthanded goals. Simon's four shorthanded goals rank tied for third in the AHL this season, one shy of the league lead. He has scored 3-1-4 in 79 career NHL games split between Atlanta and Columbus, and 58-84-142 in 345 career AHL/IHL contests.

The Blue Jackets return to action tonight at the Chicago Blackhawks. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. ET, with FSN Ohio's Ice Breaker pre-game show starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will also be broadcast live on the Blue Jackets Radio Network and flagship stations WBNS-AM Sports Radio 1460 the Fan and WWCD-FM, CD101.