Blue Jackets rally past Canucks; Sanford hurt

Hockey Betting Lines

12/01/2008 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kristian Huselius scored the game-winning goal with 4:44 left in the third period and assisted on another score as the Columbus Blue Jackets notched a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Nationwide Arena.

Andrew Murray and Fredrik Modin also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won their second straight game after posting just two wins over their previous seven games. Rick Nash posted two assists.

Steve Mason made 30 saves, including several dandies in the waning moments, to earn the win.

"Vancouver is a hard team to play against, because they expose your lack of patience," Columbus head coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Both teams were going at it pretty good. This was kind of payback for the games we've played so well and then something (bad) has happened at the end."

Columbus is 7-5-1 as the host this year and had lost three in a row at Nationwide before beating the Caps on Saturday. Columbus next heads out on a three-game road trip, beginning Thursday in San Jose.

Kyle Wellwood and Kevin Bieksa had the goals for Vancouver, which has now dropped three straight games. Alexander Edler had two assists.

Curtis Sanford started the game with a spotless first period, making 11 saves, but had to leave prior to the second with back spasms. Cory Schneider took over in the crease and allowed three goals on 18 shots in taking the loss.

Monday's loss marked the second stop on a season-long seven-game road trip for the Canucks, who are 7-6-1 as the visiting team this year.

"That's part of the hockey season. You're going to be challenged. You have to be able to respond," Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault said of the current losing stretch.

Bieksa started off the third frame with a hard shot from the high slot that found its way past Mason on the power play to make it a 2-1 game, but Murray netted the equalizer on a wrister just 3 1/2 minutes later, his third of the season.

Nash rifled a pass across the goal-mouth to Huselius to the right of Schneider for the bang-bang, go-ahead score inside of five minutes and Mason did the rest.

Fedor Tyutin took a cross-checking minor inside of two minutes left and Schneider was pulled for 1:40 of that time for a two-man advantage. Mason, though, stopped all comers and used the length of his body with a raised blocker to stop Wellwood on a point-blank shot to ensure victory.

"I took a quick glance to see how much time was left on the board and it wasn't ticking down fast enough," Mason said. "But we closed it out and that was probably our biggest kill of the year so far."

The teams skated to a scoreless tie after one period with Sanford turning aside 11 Columbus offerings and Mason making eight saves.

With Nash boxed for a hooking minor just 1:32 into the second, the Canucks lit the lamp with five seconds left on the man advantage. Mason knocked down a shot from Daniel Sedin at left point but Wellwood was camped to the left of the net and shoveled in the rebound.

The Blue Jackets had an answer, though, at the 9:30 mark with a power-play marker of their own. Huselius skated down low through the left circle and sent a feed into the low slot for Modin, who elevated a shot past Schneider.

Game Notes

The Blue Jackets beat the visiting Canucks, 4-2, in the first of four meetings between the clubs on October 21...Columbus has won four in a row and six of the last eight encounters with Vancouver...The Canucks have been defeated in three straight and four of their last five trips to Columbus...Vancouver was 2-for-4 on power-play opportunities while Columbus was 1-for-8.