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Wednesday, Jan. 3 7:00pm ET
Denis makes 30 saves in Columbus' 5-2 win | ||
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BOX SCORE
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Edmonton's Craig MacTavish is the latest coach to find out that beating the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets can sometimes be a difficult task. "It looked like it was going to be an easy game for us," MacTavish said after his team lost 5-2 to Columbus on Wednesday night. "The truth of the matter is that we have a few guys that didn't follow the game plan, plain and simple." Goaltender Marc Denis made 30 saves and five players scored for the Blue Jackets. Trailing 1-0, Columbus scored twice in a 4:01 span midway through the opening period to take the lead. The Blue Jackets' Steve Heinze gloved Doug Weight's clearing attempt from the corner, dropped the puck at the left circle and drilled a slap shot between Tommy Salo's legs at 9:49. Heinze, second on the team with 11 goals, entered without a shot in five of the last seven games. "You always want to play with a lead, but we're not going to score the first goal on a team always, we can bounce back," Heinze said. Columbus, 4-13-2-1 when opponents score first, fell behind again Wednesday night when Edmonton's Anson Carter opened the scoring at 5:01. David Vyborny fired a backhander over Salo to make it 2-1 at the 13:50 mark. Vyborny scored for the second consecutive game following a 22-game drought. Edmonton nearly tied it when Jason Smith's shot from the point hit the crossbar late in the period. The Blue Jackets made it 4-1 in the second with goals on consecutive shots. Kevin Dineen scored unassisted at 6:51 after picking up a loose puck along the left boards and snapping a shot inside the far post. Mike Maneluk scored for the third consecutive game just over two minutes later on a power play. Denis kept the Oilers off the scoreboard in the second, making saves early on from close range against Daniel Cleary and Sergei Zholtok while Edmonton had a man advantage. In the third period, the Oilers' Ethan Moreau finished off a pass from Weight, who entered the game second in the league with 35 assists, to make it 4-2 at 12:41. Serge Aubin shot the puck into an empty net at 18:58 to complete the scoring. The Oilers outshot the Blue Jackets 13-3 in the period and 32-23 for the game. Edmonton is 3-7-1-1 during a stretch in which they've played 10 of their last 12 on the road. "The last two games we've executed at a level far below any time of the season," said MacTavish, whose team lost 5-2 at St. Louis on Monday. Denis was pleased with the Blue Jackets' effort. "It shows a lot of maturity that you can come from behind," said Denis, 4-1-0-0 in his last five home starts. Game notesThe game was the Blue Jackets' 41st, marking the halfway point in the season for Columbus. ... The Blue Jackets have played their poorest hockey against Northwest Division teams, coming in with a record of 1-6-0-0 against the Northwest while the Oilers were 6-1-1-1 against the Central Division. ... The Blue Jackets are 6-2-1-0 when Dineen has at least one point. ... Edmonton is 1-14-2-0 when trailing after two periods. ... Columbus is 8-2-2 when scoring a power-play goal. |
ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Edmonton Clubhouse Columbus Clubhouse RECAPS Carolina 3 Tampa Bay 2
Columbus 5
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