Columbus goalie Steve Mason entered Friday's game in Colorado having registered three consecutive shutouts. He managed to keep the Avalanche off the board for 17 minutes, until Darcy Tucker snapped Mason's streak with his fifth goal of the season at the 17:20 mark of the opening frame. The 20-year old rookie posted 199 consecutive minutes of shutout hockey for Columbus, and Tucker's tally in the first period was the only goal he surrendered on the night, as he turned aside 23-of-24 shots in a 6-1 Blue Jackets win. Mason has been a great story for the Blue Jackets, as he's pretty much carried them this season when you consider they've scored only nine goals in the eight games he's lost, including being shutout three times. He's allowed more than three goals only two times this season, and has yet to surrender more than four in a single game. Should be interesting to see how long he can continue to ride this hot streak.
As for the rest of the Blue Jackets, following Tucker's goal they pretty much took this game over and erupted for six goals over the final two periods. Rick Nash finished with a four-point night (penalty shot goal, three assists) while Kristian Huselius (two goals), Mike Commodore, Jakub Voracek and R.J. Umberger also scored for Columbus.
The win actually puts Columbus one-point ahead of Colorado for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, while the Blue Jackets are 3-0 to open their current six-game road trip, extending their winning streak to four games overall.
The Rest of the Action
... When Doug Weight assisted on Richard Park's goal at the 16:54 mark of the third period on Friday, he collected his 1,000th NHL point. The Islanders, however, dropped a 5-4 decision in Phoenix, losing for the 15th time in their past 18 games. The Islanders trailed by three goals two different times in this game, before rallying in the third period to cut the deficit to one. It's a rare twist for the Islanders, in the sense that they're the ones usually on the wrong end of three-goal third periods.Viktor Tikhonov, Shane Doan, Zbynek Michalek, Olli Jokinen and Joakim Lindstrom all scored for Phoenix.
... Well, the biggest positive for the Canadiens on Friday night was the fact 20-year old forward Max Pacioretty scored his first career goal in his first NHL game, becoming the second player in as many nights to accomplish such a feat, joining Washington's Sean Collins from Thursday. Unfortunately, that was the lone positive of the night for the Canadiens, as they fell, 4-1, in New Jersey. Scott Clemmensen stopped 33 shots in the win, while Brian Gionta, Zach Parise, John Madden and Jamie Langenbrunner scored for the Devils. New Jersey has now won three of its past four games, while the loss for Montreal snaps a three-game winning streak.
... I have a feeling we might be spinning the NHL's wheel of discipline in the coming days, as St. Louis' Tyson Strachan received a five-minute major -- and a game misconduct -- for checking Ray Whitney from behind in the second period of Friday's game in Carolina. The Hurricanes ended up getting the last laugh, however, as they pulled out a 2-1 win. Cam Ward led the way with 30 saves, while Eric Staal and Anton Babchuk provided the offense. David Backes scored the lone goal for the Blues.
... It still confuses me as to how an NHL game can begin with a fight just four seconds into the first period, yet that's how the Thrashers-Canucks tilt opened on Friday, as Eric Boulton and Mike Brown squared off. The two teams exchanged goals throughout regulation, while the Thrashers eventually took it, 4-3, in a shootout. The Sedin's provided all the offense for Vancouver in regulation (Henrik with a pair, Daniel with one), while Joey Crabb, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Slava Kozlov scored for the Thrashers. Erik Christensen, always a shootout specialist, scored what proved to be the game-winner, while Kari Lehtonen clinched it when he stopped Daniel Sedin.
... Mike Richards scored the game-winner in a shootout to help lead Philadelphia to a 5-4 win in Anaheim. The Ducks have now lost five of their past six games, while the Flyers picked up a point to pull themselves even with the Rangers for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Philadelphia's Ossi Vaananen and Anaheim's Corey Perry opened the scoring in the first period, while the two teams each scored three goals in the second period.
