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Nash leads Blue Jackets against Ducks

Jan 2, 2008 - 12:56 PM Columbus (18-15-6) at Anaheim (19-17-5) 10:00 pm EST

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - Coming off his best performance of the season, Rick Nash will hope to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to their third consecutive win when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

Nash recorded his second-career hat trick as the Blue Jackets defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2, on Monday. Nash, who scored a shorthanded goal in the second period, had the eventual game-winning tally with 3:31 remaining in the third session.

The top overall pick of the 2002 Draft added an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining to post his first hat trick since he scored three against the Detroit Red Wings on April 7, 2006.

Nash has a team-high 21 goals for Columbus, which finished the month of December with a record of 6-3-2. The performance snapped an eight-game goalless drought for Nash, who also leads the club with 35 points and six power-play tallies.

The Ducks are trying to avoid a three-game losing skid. The team appeared to get a boost from the return of defenseman Scott Niedermayer, going 4-0-1 in the first five games of his comeback before faltering in the last two.

This will mark Anaheim's first home game since December 19, winning two contests over its four-game road trip.