Modin's 2 goals trigger Blue Jackets' 5-2 victory



Columbus eliminated Chicago from the postseason hunt.
COLUMBUS (AP)-- Fredrik Modin scored twice in the second period to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets past the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Tuesday night.
The Central Division teams entered the contest with 63 points and have long been out of the playoff race. Philadephia and Phoenix are the only teams with fewer points.
Gilbert Brule added a goal and an assist for Columbus, which had lost four of its last five. Derrick Walser and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen scored their first goals of the season and David Vyborny had two assists.
Rene Bourque and Patrick Sharp tallied for Chicago, which was officially eliminated from postseason contention with the loss. The Blackhawks have lost three of their last four games. Cameron Barker assisted on both scores.
Tied at 1-1 entering the second period, the Blue Jackets dominated the middle frame with precision passing between Vyborny and Modin, who scored his goals 5:13 apart.
Moments after goalie Fredrik Norrena stopped Tony Salmelainen on a breakaway, Vyborny fed Modin a slick backhand pass across the crease. Modin skated past Dustin Byfuglien, who was recalled for the game, for the tap in at 5:13.
Later skating 4-on-4, Vyborny and Modin made three passes between them with the last one a give-and-go around Danny Richmond. Modin skated in from the right wing and roofed a shot over Nikolai Khabibulin at 10:26 for his 19th of the campaign to make it 3-1. Modin has 10 points in his last 12 games.
Sergei Fedorov, starting his fourth straight game on defense, started the play from near the Columbus net and picked up an assist.
Walser's goal made it 4-1
Walser, reacquired from Carolina in the offseason, scored his first goal since Dec. 13, 2003 at 18:08 on a Blue Jackets power play to make it 4-1. The defenseman was recalled for the game because four Columbus blueliners are out with injuries.
The clubs traded goals in the third period.
Tollefsen scored his first career goal on a power play with a slap shot that Khabibulin stopped, but the puck caromed off teammate Duncan Keith at 7:14.
Sharp made it 5-2, redirecting Jason Williams' slap shot at 9:44 on a two-man advantage for his 16th.
Brule started the scoring just over two minutes into the game. Khabibulin cleared the puck from behind the net, but Brule stole the puck at the right half boards. He skated in alone along the goal line and jammed in a backhand shot for his eighth.
Bourque made it 1-1 with a slap shot on an individual rush later in the period.
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