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Blue Jackets eye winning record, face Rangers

Oct 24, 2008 - 10:12 AM NY Rangers (6-2-1) at Columbus (3-3-0) 7:00 p.m. EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Kristian Huselius and captain Rick Nash are leading the Columbus Blue Jackets in the early going of the 2008-09 season.

Huselius and Nash will try to get the Blue Jackets back above .500 on Friday when they host the New York Rangers.

Columbus has won two of its last three games thanks in large part to the pair of first-liners. Huselius, who came over from the Calgary Flames as a free agent during the offseason, registered his team-leading seventh point of the season on Tuesday, scoring a power-play goal in the first period as the Blue Jackets posted a 4-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks.

Huselius notched a pair of assists in the previous two games and has recorded at least one point in five of six games this season.

Nash also tallied against the Canucks and added an assist to give him five points in the last three contests. The 24-year-old left wing has a team-high five goals and is tied for second with six points.

The Rangers have lost two straight games and may turn to backup goaltender Stephen Valiquette against the Blue Jackets after starter Henrik Lundqvist dropped each of his last three starts, surrendering 10 goals over that span.

Valiquette has won each of his two starts this season and earned his third career shutout in his last outing, recording 21 saves en route to a 1-0 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Friday. The 31-year-old owns a 1.44 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.