Columbus tops Canucks 6-5, on Letowski's goal

The Blue Jackets tied a franchise record with four power play goals.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- The Blue Jackets' four power play goals Tuesday tied the franchise record.
But it was an even-strength dance along the goal line by former Canuck Trevor Letowski that had the 16,192 fans at Nationwide Arena buzzing in the Blue Jackets' 6-5 victory over Vancouver.
With less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Jason Chimera carried the puck along the left boards, then dumped it to Letowski.
His move around Todd Bertuzzi gave him room to send the puck between the pads of goalie Alex Auld for the game-winning goal.
"[Chimera] chased it down and I called for it," said Letowski, who said that since Bertuzzi is a forward, "I just stepped around him and went five hole."
Canucks keep it close
Four times, the Canucks rallied from deficits to keep the tight.
"It was a great game, exciting, back and forth," said Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant, who added that the return of injured players as Adam Foote and Rick Nash has the team playing its best.
"No way we would have scored six goals early in the year," said Gallant after the Blue Jackets improved their home record to .500 (12-12-0).
"Vancouver played a great hockey game," Gallant said. "We didn't beat a team that was tired, we beat a team that was mad from [Monday's 4-0 loss] in St. Louis.
Center Jan Hrdina, who scored two of the man-advantage goals, said the Jacket's strategy was to have backliners send the puck to net.
"There was not much room down around the net, so we tried to shoot from the point and go for rebounds," said Hrdina after his sixth and seventh goals of the season.
"In the new NHL, there are lots of power plays -- it's a huge part of the game right now," Hrdina said. "It won the game for us."
Hrdina puts Columbus ahead
Midway through the third period, Hrdina's second goal put the Jackets ahead, 5-4, as his second swipe at the puck in the goal crease beat Auld.
But the Jackets couldn't hold on to the edge as Alexander Burrows beat Marc Denis with 6:45 to go.
Just 1:14 into the game, Chimera pounced on a rebound off Auld's pads for a 1-0 lead. Ron Hainsey's slapshot from the point set up the goal.
Three minutes later, Hrdina skated through the slot and picked up a rebound off Auld's pads. His backhander beat Auld for a 2-0 lead.
But power play goals by Sami Salo and Nolan Baumgartner tied the game.
The Blue Jackets snapped a the tie when Sergei Fedorov and Nikolai Zherdev capitalized on a 2-on-1 breakaway during a second-period power play.
Zherdev gets 15th goal
Fedorov skated down the left wing, pulling Canucks defender Mattias Ohlund over and feeding Zherdev the puck in the slot for his 15th goal of the season.
The lead didn't last long thanks to a replay timeout after Canucks winger Daniel Sedin broke in on Denis and backhanded a shot that the goalie pulled out with his pads.
Defenseman Bryan Berard found plenty of open space during a two-man advantage for the 4-3 lead. But Bertuzzi tied the game late in the second period.
The Blue Jackets outshot the Canucks, 43-33.
"Tonight, the effort was there and guys were looking for ugly goals," Berard said. "We're playing with confidence and now we just have to work on consistency."
williams@vindy.com