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Conklin comes up big as Blue Jackets edge Canucks

Jan 31, 2007 - 8:05 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Ty Conklin finally stopped someone in a shootout and that was just the opening Nikolai Zherdev needed.

Conklin made his first shootout saves of the season and Zherdev scored the winning goal in the shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Starting in place of the injured Fredrik Norrena, Conklin made 35 saves in regulation and overtime, but had allowed two goals on the only two shots he had faced in a shootout this season.

Markus Naslund failed to beat Conklin to start the shootout, missing wide, and David Vyborny deked to his forehand to beat Roberto Luongo and give Columbus the advantage.

Brendan Morrison beat Conklin with a low snap shot to the stick side, and after Luongo stopped Rick Nash with a toe save, the pressure was on Conklin to come through.

He did, stopping former Edmonton Oilers teammate Josh Green with a pad save, and Zherdev ended the contest with a low shot to the glove side that eluded Luongo.

"They were crashing the net all night," Luongo said. "Probably, it was part of their game plan. They got a few lucky goals in the first period and after that we did a pretty good job."

Anson Carter scored 18 seconds into the first period and Dan Fritsche added a tally for Columbus, which has bounced back from a four-game losing streak earlier this month to win five of its last six games, including four in a row.

"I thought in the second half of the game we came on," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It was a hard game. This is the third time I've coached against these guys and they play a very hard game."

Carter's goal came off a rebound and was the 200th of his career. Carter scored 33 goals for the Canucks last season but was more interested in praising Conklin than relishing revenge against a former team or his personal milestone.

"Great game. He's a battler," Carter said. "Conks competes on second and third shots. He never gave up too many rebounds. Here's a guy that hasn't played much recently and he battles so hard every single day. He works hard, takes extra shots to the helmet and whenever he gets a chance, you want to compete hard for him.

Daniel Sedin and Sami Salo scored power-play goals for Vancouver, which dropped to 11-1-3 in its last 15 games.

"They were definitely playing us tight. We know that's their style, but I still think we created enough to score three goals," Naslund said. "I think both goals (against) were unlucky breaks. It was a tough way to lose."

Norrena, who on Monday was named the NHL's Second Star for last week, is listed as day-to-day with a groin injury. He posted a 1.88 goals-against average in his last two outings.