NATIONWIDE ARENA Nash and Denis lead Columbus to third straight victory at home

The Blue Jackets scored on consecutive power plays in the second period.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Rick Nash is finding a home in the crease.
Nash had a goal and an assist and Marc Denis stopped 30 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 Thursday night.
"He's going to the right place -- he's going to the front of the net. That's where he's going to be successful and that's where he's going to score goals," said veteran Todd Marchant, who scored the Blue Jackets' other goal.
Geoff Sanderson added two assists for the Blue Jackets, who won their third game in a row at home -- the best homestand in the team's four seasons.
Nash, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2002, is one of the biggest reasons Columbus is 3-1-0-0.
"It's not like I'm going out there and deking guys and putting them in with authority," the 19-year-old said. "It's just like they're kind of jumping on my stick. So I feel lucky right now."
Blackhawks' goal
Brett McLean, called up from Norfolk of the AHL to replace the injured Alex Zhamnov, scored his first NHL goal midway through the third period for Chicago, which lost its third in a row. Zhamnov is expected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing back surgery Thursday.
The Blackhawks' Eric Daze also was sidelined by back pain.
The Blue Jackets cashed in on consecutive power plays in the second period.
Nash, Sanderson and Jaroslav Spacek moved the puck back in forth in a triangle on the right wing. Sanderson passed to Spacek for a shot that bounced off goaltender Jocelyn Thibault to Nash, who jammed it in at the right edge at the 3:21 mark.
The goal was Nash's third of the season and extended his points streak to three games (3-1-4).
"We only had trouble once in the hockey game and that was part of the second period," Blackhawks coach Brian Sutter said. "We started throwing pucks blind to the middle. We started turning them over at the offensive blue line."
Marchant scores
At 14:37 of the period, the Blue Jackets scored again with a similar three-man game. This time, Nash passed to Sanderson for a hard shot from the high slot, with Marchant cleaning up the rebound.
McLean's goal came 7:57 into the third period. He netted a shot from a hard angle off a centering pass from the back boards by Igor Radulov.
Denis weathered a late Chicago power play after rookie Dan Fritsche picked up a tripping minor. The Blackhawks' best shot at tying the game came on Deron Quint's slap shot from the point that was redirected just wide by Pavel Vorobiev.
"I don't think they really had a threatening scoring chance there at the end," Denis said. "Some people might call it ugly, but it was a win nonetheless."