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Kesler propels Canucks past Blue Jackets

Oct 22, 2007 - 12:51 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks remained at home on the road.

Ryan Kesler had two goals and Curtis Sanford stopped 35 shots as the Canucks won for the third time in as many road games with a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

"It was a barrage out there," Sanford said. "That's what happens when you kill that many penalties in a period. Minutes are going to be at a premium for me this year, so it is important to go out and play well whenever I get the chance."

Kevin Bieksa and Markus Naslund also scored for the Canucks, who won despite failing to register a shot in the second period.

It was the fourth time in franchise history that they were held without a shot, the last time being January 18 against Ottawa.

"Not getting a shot on goal in the second period is not something we want to do too often," Kesler said. "We found a way to win tonight, so we are happy with that."

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault wasn't as thrilled with the performance.

"We spent most of the second period in the penalty box," Vigneault said. "So we were not able to generate many shots or much offense. This is a game we should have lost but found a way to win."

As for Columbus, it was the second time in its brief history that it held a team without a shot. The Blue Jackets achieved the feat against Dallas on December 27, 2003.

Kesler scored on the Canucks' first shot of the game when he beat Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire under his arm with a wrist shot at 5:39 in the first period.

"It was a nice pass from Matt Cooke," Kessler said. "I just put it on net and it went in."

"That is a save I have to make," Leclaire said. "These are low scoring games and it doesn't take much. We put a lot of shots, and we did play a good game but I think coming down 2-0 right off the bat is hard on the guys."

The tally snapped Leclaire's home scoreless streak at 156 minutes, 1 second. The last goal he allowed at Nationwide Arena was February 18, 2006 against Montreal.

Bieksa extended Vancouver's lead to 2-0 on the power play. The defenseman scored his first goal of the season after accepting a feed from Daniel Sedin and blasting it past a screened Leclaire with just under seven minutes remaining in the first period.

"A big goal to give us a little room," Bieksa said. "It was a great pass from Daniel and there was traffic in front, so I just put it on net and was able to get it in."

Rick Nash halved the deficit for the Blue Jackets in the second period. With Columbus enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage, Nash took a pass from David Vyborny at the top of the crease.

"It was nice to get the goal, but the power play definitely lost it for us tonight," Nash said. "We weren't getting pucks to the net, if we get a couple of power play goals ... the game's on us."

Nash's initial shot was blocked, but he was able to stuff the rebound past Sanford.

It was the third goal in as many games for Nash, who leads the team with five tallies.

Leclaire finished with 15 saves for Columbus.

"When you look up after the second period and see 26-6 in shots and you are down, 2-0, it's pretty obvious what is going on," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We worked really hard and created a number of opportunities for ourselves with the man-advantage, and I don't think we were very good on the power play at all. That was the game right there."