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BOX SCORE
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Ed Jovanovski played with a
heavy heart on Saturday night.
Jovanovski, who missed Vancouver's last two games to be with his
wife, Kristin, in Florida after she miscarried one of the couple's
expected twins earlier in the week, had a goal and an assist to
lead the Canucks' to a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After he scored to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead 5:45 into the game,
an emotional Jovanovski skated into the corner and pointed his
index finger straight into the air.
"I just pointed up to the person that didn't make it in my
life, that I got this goal for," Jovanovski said through tears
after the game. "One of my girls didn't make it. I just wanted to
show her I cared.
Jovanovski's wife remains in Florida with her parents and is
expecting the second child at the end of April. The couple also has
a 2½-year-old daughter.
"Mentally it was a little tough, but I've just got to deal with
things and be a strong individual and just get through these
things," Jovanovski said. "My family comes first, but my wife
wanted me to come and play and that's what will make her happy.
Jovanovski, 24, added an assist as Vancouver jumped out to leads
of 3-0 and 4-1, then hung on as Chris Nielsen scored with 42.8
seconds left and the goaltender on the bench to close the gap to
one goal. The Blue Jackets had a couple of good chances to tie it
before Geoff Sanderson took a penalty with 20 seconds left trying
to prevent Vancouver from scoring into the empty net.
Markus Naslund scored twice and Peter Schaefer added a goal for
the Canucks, who remained undefeated in three games against the
expansion Blue Jackets and finish the first half of the season with
a 21-12-4-4 record.
"It wasn't a great game, but we got the two points and that is
what we were out there for," said Naslund, who is among the NHL
leaders with 22 goals. "Hopefully we can get things going and have
a good second half, too.
Naslund opened the scoring 4:10 into the game with a wrist shot
that beat Marc Denis high on the glove side. Naslund, who had just
two goals in a month despite countless scoring chances, added his
second of the game on a power play 6:03 into the second when tipped
Brendan Morrison's slap shot from the left faceoff circle past
Denis.
"It's fun to score goals again, but I m not going to put
pressure on myself if I struggle for a long time," Naslund said.
Columbus outshot the Canucks 25-17, including 11-5 in the final
period, but lost for just the second time in five games.
"It's not heart, it's execution that hurts us sometimes,"
Columbus coach Dave King said. "We made some critical mistakes
with the puck and with Vancouver and the forwards that they've got,
if you make to many of those mistakes, they will score on you."
Steve Heinze gave the Blue Jackets some life when he scored with
2.2 seconds left in the second, but Peter Schaefer restored the
three-goal cushion just 11 seconds into the third.
Schaefer converted Morrison's 2-on-1 pass with a wrist shot that
slipped under Denis' outstretched glove. It was Morrison's second
assist of the game, giving him 19 points in his last 16 games.
Sanderson, at 7:36, and Neilson at 19:17, scored the
third-period goals for Columbus.
Denis only stopped 13 shots for Columbus and lost for just the
second time in his last nine starts. Potvin, pulled from his last
start after giving up four goals on 17 shots, made 22 saves to
improve to 12-13-3.
Game notes
Columbus fell to 1-20-1-1 when they surrender three or more
goals in a game. ... Vancouver and Columbus have the NHL's two
worst penalty-killing records at 80.5 percent and 78.5 percent,
respectively. ... After playing four games on the road, the Canucks
are at home for three straight contests and five of their next six.
... Columbus goalie Ron Tugnutt missed his third-straight game with
an injured thumb.
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NHL Scoreboard
Columbus Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
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New Jersey 5
NY Rangers 5
Colorado 2
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NY Islanders 1
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Atlanta 2
Philadelphia 2
Washington 3
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Dallas 4
Boston 0
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St. Louis 5
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Vancouver 4
Columbus 3
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