Blue Jackets can't solve Hedberg
Canadian Press
3/6/2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Johan Hedberg stopped 32 shots for his second consecutive shutout and Markus Naslund had a goal and an assist to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Todd Bertuzzi added two assists for the Canucks, who also had goals from Mattias Ohlund, Matt Cooke and Tyler Bouck.
Hedberg earned the ninth shutout of his career. He had 31 saves in his last start, a 2-0 win over St. Louis a week earlier.
Vancouver was playing back-to-back nights on the road, losing 3-1 at Detroit on Friday night.
In the first period, the Canucks looked as if they missed their wakeup call. They didn't have a shot on goal in the opening 11 minutes, yet grabbed a 1-0 lead on their second shot.
Naslund had the puck behind the Columbus goal and tossed a centring pass to Ohlund, who was alone in the slot. He beat goaltender Marc Denis for his 12th goal.
With the Blue Jackets on the power play late in the first period, Hedberg flipped the puck from behind his net to the neutral zone to set up a breakaway by Brendan Morrison. Morrison swooped in on Denis, but Denis deflected the puck up and held it with his body just inches from the goal-line.
The Canucks made it 3-0 in the second period - both goals coming off of perfect passes.
First, Daniel Sedin whisked a pass from the right dot to Cooke at the doorstep and all he had to do for his seventh goal was to put his stick down for the jam shot.
Bertuzzi then picked up the puck along the boards and slid a hard pass through the crease where Naslund poked it in for his 32nd goal.
Columbus was on the power play again at the outset of the third period, but this time the Canucks didn't waste their scoring chance. Defenceman Anders Eriksson lost the puck behind his own net to Mike Keane, who tossed a centring pass through the slot to Bouck. Bouck faked a shot, as the Blue Jackets' Nikolai Zherdev slid past him in an attempt at block it, then pounded the puck past Denis for his first goal of the season.
The Blue Jackets had very few scoring chances after the opening 10 minutes. Rick Nash, tied for the NHL lead with 36 goals, hit the side of the net with a redirect with a minute left in the game.
Notes: Before assisting on Cooke's goal, Daniel Sedin hadn't registered a point in four games since scoring four goals against Detroit on Feb. 24. ... Columbus was 0-for-6 on the power play after scoring at least one man-advantage goal in 11 of 12 home games. ... Naslund has three goals and three assists in three games against the Blue Jackets this season.
Cheers,
Aquaman