Blue Jackets 1 - 2 Canucks
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Canucks beat Blue Jackets on Torres' SO tally

Mar 2, 2011 - 7:19 AM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Raffi Torres scored in the eighth round of the shootout, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After Columbus' Rick Nash opened the shootout by scoring with an elevated backhander past the right post, the Canucks' first two shooters hit the goalpost. Vancouver needed Mason Raymond's quick backhand in the third round to have a chance for the win.

Antoine Vermette opened the fifth round by tucking the puck in by the left post, but Alexandre Burrows answered with another backhand score for Vancouver.

In the eighth and final round, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo stopped R.J. Umberger, and Torres fired a wrister from the mid-slot past Steve Mason for the victory.

"Like I've always said, you lose some, you win some," Luongo said. "The shootout, you never know. Fortunately, tonight we ended up on the good side of it."

Luongo made 30 saves to help Vancouver improve to 3-2-0 on its six-game homestand, which ends Thursday against Nashville. Raymond scored in the first period.

Scottie Upshall, acquired from Phoenix on Monday, scored Columbus' only goal. Mason turned aside 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' second consecutive loss.

Raymond scored during a Canucks counter-rush. Ryan Kesler corralled the puck along the right boards in the Columbus zone and passed to a streaking Raymond, who quickly shifted to his backhand to beat Mason at 14:27 of the first period.

Upshall lit the lamp 7:11 into the second period with a wrister from the right circle.

Though the teams applied pressure in the third, the score remained the same. Mason stopped 10 shots in the final period, while Luongo turned aside 11.

Columbus got several runs at the net in overtime, but Luongo stood tall.

"He's great," Upshall said of Luongo. "That's the goalie [who] wins Olympic gold medals and carries teams through playoffs. He really was just a monster with goalie pads in there tonight."

Game Notes

The teams combined to go 0-for-7 on the power play...Vancouver has won six in a row against Columbus.






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