NEW YORK, 19 March 2006 — Brendan Morrison’s fluke goal late in the third period turned out to be the winner as the Vancouver Canucks scored a badly needed 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League on Friday.
Morrison’s clearing pass hit Columbus forward Manny Malhotra and slipped into the net to break a 2-2 tie and help the Canucks snap a season-high five-game losing streak.
Vancouver moved into a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference standings with Edmonton, but with the sixth through 10th place teams in the conference separated by just five points, the win over the lowly Blue Jackets was vital for the Canucks.
Columbus was 21 points behind Vancouver entering the game, but battled to keep the game close before losing its third straight game.
The Canucks jumped in front 1-0 in the opening period on a power-play goal by Mattias Ohlund, but the Blue Jackets tied the score in the second period on Ron Hainsey’s power play marker, leaving the game tied 1-1 after 40 minutes. Anson Carter put the Canucks in front again with his goal at 7:56 of the third period, but Malhotra’s marker just 40 seconds later tied the game and set the stage for Morrison’s game-winner. Morrison attempted a clearing pass from the left corner in Columbus territory with less than a seven minutes left, but the pass hit Malhotra and slipped past Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire with just 6:11 left in regulation.
Leclaire was busy most of the night, as Vancouver out-shot the Jackets 33-24, including 15-6 in a first period that featured three straight Vancouver power plays. Alex Auld made 22 saves in goal for Vancouver.
The Canucks were 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Blue Jackets managed just one goal in their six power play opportunities.
In Sunrise, Juraj Kolnik scored the game-winning goal at 14:53 of the third period as the Florida Panthers beat the New York Islanders 4-2. Jay Bouwmeester, Joe Nieuwendyk and Martin Gelinas scored for the Panthers and Jamie McLennan made 23 saves.
Miroslav Satan scored twice for the Islanders and Rick DiPietro made 40 saves.
In Tampa, Ryan Craig scored twice as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3. Vaclav Prospal, Fredrik Modin, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards scored the other goals for the Lightning. John Grahame made 28 saves. Peter Forsberg, Jeff Carter and Niko Dimitrakos scored for the Flyers.
In Chicago, Andy McDonald scored twice as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks edged the Blackhawks 2-1.
