Canucks 5 Blue Jackets 6

Game Recaps: canucks.com . ESPN
Statistics: Score Sheet . Stat Sheet

• The Canucks played a mostly okay game 5-on-5. It's too bad there weren't much of that going on. Both teams combined for 18 penalties (including a Rick Nash double-minor) and 15 powerplay opportunities (totalling 18:43 minutes). Columbus had nine opportunities and scored on four of them.
• Adam Foote did his best Jarkko Ruutu impression and pissed the hell out of Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi. Foote checked Naslund hard into the boards late in the game, Bertuzzi intervened, and the Blue Jackets scored going the other way.
• By the way, Naslund didn't have the puck at the time, and with all the little tugs and hooks the refs were calling, I thought that one easily could have been called.
• Ryan Kesler had a nice game and Crow rewarded him for it. He recorded one assist, one (official) blocked shot and five hits, centered the top line for parts of the game and logged 18:15 minutes of ice-time - his highest of the season.
• Alex Burrows had another energetic game. His line with Kesler and Jarkko Ruutu started the game and immediately hemmed the Blue Jackets in their own zone. (The Blue Jackets, unfortunately, scored their goal on the following shift.) Burrows tied the game with seven minutes left in the third period on a beautiful goal, gathering the rebound in front of the net then deking out Marc Denis.
• I thought Nolan Baumgartner had another solid game, especially after Ed Jovanovski left in the first period. He logged 17:11 minutes of ice-time and chipped in with a goal and a +2 rating.
• Next time the Canucks take the ice, compare the intensity and urgency displayed by the Naslund-Morrison-Bertuzzi line with that of the other lines. Against the Blues and the Blue Jackets, they didn't show much. This is especially noticeable on the powerplay where it takes the line so much time to even get the puck into the zone.