Blue Jackets’ Victory Over Canucks Is a First

Geoff Sanderson scored and assisted on Tyler Wright’s winning goal in the second period as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Northwest Division-leading Vancouver Canucks for the first time, 3-2, Friday night at Vancouver, Canada.

Rookie Rick Nash also scored for the Blue Jackets, who came in 0-7-1 against Vancouver. The Blue Jackets have won two straight after General Manager Doug MacLean fired Dave King on Tuesday and took over as interim coach.

Marc Denis, starting for the 41st time in 42 games for Columbus, made 14 of his 27 saves in the final 20 minutes as the Blue Jackets were outshot, 14-7, in the third.

Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist and Markus Naslund scored his league-leading 31st goal for the Canucks, who lost for the first time in four games and only the second time in seven.

With the score tied, 2-2, Sanderson made a nice pass to Wright with 32 seconds left in the second period. He beat goalie Dan Cloutier with a one-timer.

Minnesota 2, Phoenix 1 -- Cliff Ronning and Andrei Zyuzin scored power-play goals for Minnesota, which won at St. Paul, Minn. to end a three-game losing streak.

Dwayne Roloson made 29 saves for Minnesota, which went two for six on the power play.

The Wild began the night ranked 26th in the league with a 12.7% conversion rate on the power play.

New Jersey 2, Florida 1 -- Christian Berglund and Scott Gomez scored off rebounds to give the Devils the win at Sunrise, Fla.

New Jersey has scored more than two goals only once in its last nine games, and is the second-lowest scoring team in the Eastern Conference.

Buffalo 4, Boston 2 -- Rookie Ales Kotalik scored two goals for the third straight game and the host Sabres scored four times in the third period. It was the Sabres’ first win this season when trailing after two periods. Boston played without center Joe Thornton, the NHL’s third-leading scorer, who remained hospitalized with an infected left elbow.

Washington 4, Carolina 1 -- Mike Grier and Kip Miller scored in the opening 9:31 as the Capitals won at Raleigh, N.C., to gain at least a point in their 11th straight game. It was Carolina’s 11th loss in its last 17.

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Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister was granted a one-week extension by the NHL to buy the financially troubled Sabres. Hamister is trying to secure the necessary state government financing.