Anaheim Ducks edge past Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2
Jason Blake lit the lamp for his 200th career goal, as the Anaheim Ducks held for a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday night.
Saku Koivu and Lubomir Visnovsky both picked up two assists for Anaheim, who have won seven of their previous nine contests. Jonas Hiller finished with 35 saves for his league-leading 25th win of the season. Teemu Selanne and rookie Cam Fowler also found
the net in Anaheim’s victory.
Rick Nash and Derick Brassard tallied power-play goals for the Blue Jackets, who saw their point streak (3-0-2) end at five play-offs. Steve Mason turned aside 19 shots in the losing effort.
Selanne opened the scoring to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of the opening stanza. The goal came when Bobby Ryan found Selanne cutting toward the crease and slipped a backhand pass. On a rush, Selanne easily redirected it past Mason for his
15th goal of the season.
Fowler enhanced the lead to 2-0 just 61 seconds later. With an assist from Ryan, Fowler released a blazing shot that beat Mason for his fifth goal of the season.
Columbus’ man-advantage goal struck late in the first period to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Just as two power-plays expired, Nash ripped a wrist shot off a nice pass by Brassard through traffic and past Hiller with two and a half minutes left.
Despite losing, Columbus Coach Scott Arniel praised his team’s performance after the game. He said, "It was a tough start there giving up two goals right away. Hiller was outstanding and we had a lot of opportunities to get that game evened up when it was
2-1. We played hard. We got behind the eight-ball, but didn't stop playing."
Both teams drifted to a goalless middle session, firing 12 shots apiece. Both netminders made superb saves and there were several near misses.
With Anaheim leading 2-1 in the final frame, Koivu won a battle for the puck behind the Blue Jackets net and threw it to Blake, who stepped from behind the net to the left post and whipped a backhand shot past Mason. His 200th career goal and 10th of the
2010-11 season gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead in the fifth minute.
Brassard countered for the Blue Jackets five minutes later, knocking in a rebound after a face-off win to make it a 3-2 game. Mason was pulled for an extra attacker late in regulation, but Columbus couldn't net an equaliser.
Tags: