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Nash lifts Blue Jackets over Canucks in shootout

Jan 19, 2009 - 5:41 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- After being sidelined for four straight games, captain Rick Nash immediately made his presence felt for the surging Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nash recorded a goal and two assists before netting the decisive tally in the second round of a shootout as the Blue Jackets edged the Vancouver Canucks, 6-5, on Sunday.

Newly acquired Jason Williams also scored in regulation and later beat goaltender Roberto Luongo in the first round of the bonus format. Williams' tally set up the winner from Nash, who returned to the lineup after watching his team post a 3-1-0 record while he was out with a sprained right knee.

"It's huge," Columbus rookie goaltender Steve Mason said of getting Nash back in the lineup.

"Just look at the game tonight. He was one of our best players out there. He got some big points for us. We did a good job with him out of the lineup, but we're that much better with him in it."

Manny Malhotra, defenseman Mike Commodore and Raffi Torres netted goals for Columbus, which opened a three-game road trip by bouncing back from a 2-1 setback against the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

"It was a really bizarre game," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I don't know how they felt, but we have to review our travel. We had no legs today and we were struggling. We're really grateful we got the two points, but we were struggling."

Henrik Sedin and defenseman Kevin Bieksa each had a goal and an assist while Taylor Pyatt, veteran Mats Sundin and Steve Bernier also tallied for the Canucks, who broke a franchise record with their seventh straight loss at home.

The previous mark was set December 18, 1970-January 20, 1971 during the team's inaugural season, and equaled in a stretch from November 3-18, 1978.

Vancouver also fell for the fifth straight contest overall for the first time since an 0-4-1 stretch from March 5-14, 2006.

"I think we battled hard for 65 minutes," Luongo said. "If we played like that every night, we'll definitely get the results in the future. It's a tough one because we lost, but at the same time, I think this is the battle level we want every night and what we want to bring to the table."

Kyle Wellwood's wrist shot was turned aside by Mason in the first round and Williams, traded by the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday, solved Luongo with a hard snap shot to give the Blue Jackets an early edge in the shootout.

Sundin, who netted his second goal of the season earlier in the contest, fired a wrister that sailed over the net before Nash secured the victory in the following set.

"It was good enough," Nash said. "It's still going to take a couple of games to get back to normal, but I had a lot of energy tonight."

Vancouver is 1-4-1 since Sundin joined the team on January 7 after a high-profile, nine-month layoff.

"I felt we did some good things," Sundin said. "I felt we worked hard. Even though we got down in the third, we found a way to battle back and earn a point. Obviously, shootouts are important, but it's tough to predict what's going to happen in a shootout. I thought we did some good things and we can move on to the next step and win a game."

The Canucks have not gotten much help from Luongo, either. The four-time All-Star had been sidelined with a strained groin for more than seven weeks - a span in which they went 9-12-3, slipping from first in the Northwest Division to second behind Calgary.

Luongo showed his rust during a 4-1 setback to the Phoenix Coyotes in his first game back on Thursday and fizzled once again in this contest despite stopping 23 shots.

"It was a few breakdowns, but at the same time, I've got to try to bail my teammates out too when I get a chance," Luongo said. "Unfortunately, the timing's not quite there yet and I've got to work hard to get it back."

After Pyatt and Malhotra traded goals in the first period, Sundin and Bernier tallied in a nine-minute span in the following session to hand Vancouver a 3-1 lead.

However, Williams converted on a power-play goal and Nash registered his 18th goal of the season in a 1:53 span late in the second to forge a 3-3 tie.

Commodore and Torres continued the trend of offensive spurts by beating Luongo in a 55-second span during the first two minutes of the third.

"Sometimes when you're on a lot of those long winning streaks, you win a couple toward the end that you don't deserve to win because the bounces are going your way," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "This might be sort of the opposite of that. In my mind, we deserved a better fate."

Mason, who will start in goal for the rookies in the YoungStars game as part of the All-Star Weekend festivities in Montreal later in the month, entered the game with a league-leading 1.81 goals-against average.

The 20-year-old seemingly ran out of magic as Sedin converted passes from Alex Edler and Bieksa with a slap shot from the right faceoff circle on the power play 4:37 into the third.

Bieksa then forged a 5-5 tie just 90 seconds later, unleashing a wrister from in front of the blue line.

Mason finished with 25 saves for Columbus, which has won five of its last seven contests on the road.

"Obviously it's nice to get the win," said Mason, who surrendered five goals for the second time this season.

"It was a big win, especially against a team in the same conference. It's obviously going to be a good two points for us and I'm hoping we'll build off of it."