Rick Nash scores pair as Columbus Blue Jackets defeat Anaheim Ducks
Rick Nash chipped in with a pair of goals to help the Columbus Blue Jackets cruise to a 3-1 win over the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, 20 October.
After a scoreless first frame, the Jackets got off to a hot start as Derek MacKenzie drew first blood for the home team at 3:32 of the second period. His unassisted wrist shot found the
back of the net easily, much to the chagrin of Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller. Just over a minute later, Nash, the Blue Jackets’ captain, put Columbus ahead 2-0 at 4:43 with a wrist shot that was assisted by Kristian Huselius and Antoine Vermette.
The third period began with Teemu Selanne ending Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason’s bid for a shutout with his third goal of the season at 0:58. Jason Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky drew the
assists on Selanne’s snap shot. There were no further goals scored until Nash potted the game-winner at 19:32, with less than a minute left in the game. Nash’s wrist shot was unassisted.
After dropping their home opener to the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 5-2, Nash said the Jackets were happy to get back into the win column again.
“Yeah, it was unfortunate we got embarrassed,” Nash said of the tough loss to the visiting Blackhawks. “The only way we're going to win them back is by winning games. That was a good start
(for us) tonight.”
MacKenzie, who scored Columbus’ first goal of the night, also believed that his team played a good game, but that there were still some areas where the Blue Jackets needed to improve.
“I thought we played well,” said MacKenzie. “Do we have room to improve? Yeah. There were a few parts in the game where we took penalties and those are things on some nights that are going
to catch up to us.”
“For the most part, the guys had a gritty, hard-working game. We did exactly what we planned to do, and we got the two points.”
Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf believed that the Anaheim’s lack of success in the game could be attributed to the ineffectiveness of their power play, especially after coming into the game
with the sixth-ranked power play in the league.
“The power play wasn’t effective tonight,” Getzlaf said. “Those things kill you in games. You have to win those special teams battles.”
Mason made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets, while Ducks counterpart Hiller stopped 19 of 21 shots. Anaheim’s next opponents will be the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, 21 October, while
the Blue Jackets will take on the Calgrary Flames on Friday, 22 October.
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