Nash, Jackets take advantage of disorganized Ducks

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Anaheim Ducks' World Tour took a wrong turn Friday night.

Rick Nash had two goals and a career-best four points and Pascal Leclaire stopped 28 shots to help the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the road-weary Ducks 4-0.

Asked if his team was tired after playing four games on two continents and in three arenas in less than a week, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle refused to take the easy way out.

"Those are excuses," he said. "That's the way it goes. We didn't have the energy that was necessary to compete at the level they played at."

Sergei Fedorov and Ron Hainsey each added a power-play goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, opening their first full season under coach Ken Hitchcock.

The defending Stanley Cup champions looked tired and disorganized for the first two periods, which was to be expected after what they've been through this week. They opened the season by splitting two games with Los Angeles in London -- England, not Ontario -- last weekend. They flew to Detroit and lost in a shootout on Wednesday night before traveling on to Columbus. They complete the grueling road trip on Saturday night against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"They came at us right from the start of the game," forward Ryan Getzlaff said of the Blue Jackets. "We weren't prepared for it. We did a lot of things tonight and none of them were the right ones."

It was Leclaire's second career shutout. He missed most of last year with leg and knee injuries.

"We were right there in their face and stayed there all night," Leclaire said.

Columbus was 3-for-11 on the power play and Anaheim was 0-for-7.

The Blue Jackets received a standing ovation when they left the ice with a 2-0 lead after the first period. The Ducks didn't get their first shot on goal until more than 16 minutes had elapsed. Columbus had 14 shots before the Ducks got their first.

With the puck seldom leaving their offensive zone, Nash crashed the net and with a defender in front of him attempted to pass across the slot to David Vyborny. The puck never got to him, though, glancing off the skate of Shane Hnidy and into the net at the 6:44 mark.

Hnidy shrugged and hung his head as the crowd cheered.

"It was great," Nash said of the win. "The first game is always like that. You just have to remember not to get too high. It's just the first game. We're right back at it tomorrow night."

On a power play, Nash tried a shot from a hard angle at the right goal line. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov deflected the puck with his stick but it ricocheted to the left wing where Fedorov scored with a one-timer before Bryzgalov could recover.

During one flurry in the third period, the Ducks swarmed Leclaire. One shot came out of a scrum in front of the net, the puck dancing across the crossbar and falling behind Leclaire onto the goal line. Nash pulled it back before it crossed the line.

Nash then scored on power play, taking a pass behind the net from rookie Kris Russell and wristing it high over Bryzgalov's glove. It was Russell's first NHL point.

"Obviously he scored a very important goal for us," Fedorov said of Nash. "I hope he keeps scoring like that. We need it a lot. It's hard to say, because I don't want to jinx anything. If he keeps going, we keep winning."

Nash also assisted when Nikolai Zherdev fed Hainsey for a jam shot in the crease.

Game notes
The crowd of 17,852 roared for almost a minute when it was flashed on the scoreboard that the Cleveland Indians had beaten the New York Yankees 2-1 in the ALDS. ... The Blue Jackets introduced an extremely loud goal cannon which was fired after each goal. ... The Ducks' first home game is Wednesday against Boston. ... Columbus rookie Jared Boll received a game misconduct and a 5-minute major for elbowing Travis Moen seconds after Moen took a shot. Blood was running from Moen's nose after he went to the bench. He did not return and was being evaluated.