Blue Jackets 7, Blackhawks 4

CHICAGO (AP) -Rick Nash played his game. No wonder that was more than enough for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nash had two goals - one on a goal-mouth setup by Michael Peca and another on a mid-air deflection - and added an assist, and Columbus' Jiri Novotny scored twice to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 7-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

Nash extended his goal streak to four games, giving him five goals and three assists in that span.

"It's just kind of the way I usually like to play, driving to the net," Nash said. "And we're coming together as a line. We're getting some chemistry."

Nash played left wing with Peca at center and Nikolai Zherdev on right wing. Peca had three assists on Tuesday, and Zherdev scored a goal.

"I don't even know if Rick Nash is on a hot streak," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He's like a horse, and when he's playing this way he's hard to stop."

Sergei Fedorov, and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen also scored for the Blue Jackets, who earned their fourth victory of the season but first not by shutout.

Fredrik Norrena made 24 saves in recording his first victory of the season. Pascal Leclaire posted shutouts in the Blue Jackets' previous three wins.

"It was good for Freddie," Hitchcock said. "He really showed determination in the third period."

Chicago came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to tie it 3-all late in the second on rookie Patrick Kane's second goal of the night.

Kane, the first overall pick in this year's draft, also posted two assists to record his third straight multipoint game. He leads the Blackhawks with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists).

"I didn't play that well," Kane said. "I think I just got the bounces. Things kind of went my way.

"We've got to come out harder, stop going down 2-0 and trying to come back all the time. We're going to have to work on that."

The Blue Jackets were more impressed with the 18-year-old Kane, generously listed at 5-foot-10, than he was.

"He's a little guy, but I'd take his skill over a larger guy," Peca said. "He's going to be a 100-point guy in this league."

James Wisniewski and rookie Jonathan Toews scored the other goals for Chicago.

Toews, the Blackhawks' first-round pick (third overall) in 2006, has points in each of his first seven NHL games (three goals, four assists). He missed Chicago's first two games due to a broken right middle finger.

Nikolai Khabibulin made 18 saves for the Blackhawks.

Kane cut it to 2-1 with 4:39 left in the first. Following a failed clearing attempt by Dan Fritsche, Kane beat Norrena with a quick move from the edge of the crease.

Novotny's second of the game, at 4:34 of the middle period, made it 3-1.

Toews trimmed it to 3-2 at 6:47 of the period when his shot from the right circle slipped between Norrena's pads.

Kane tied it with 1:50 left in the frame to record his first two-goal game. He scored from the slot after Brent Seabrook's centering pass bounded off Norrena's pads and was tapped into the slot by Tuomo Ruutu.

With 22 second remaining in the period, Fedorov's power-play goal through a screen restored the Blue Jackets' lead at 4-3.

"That was a big power-play goal," Nash said. "It's a big difference going in (to the third period) up 4-3."

Nash made it a two-goal advantage at 9:07 of the third with his second of the game.

Zherdev made it 6-3 with 7:39 left in the third, and Wisniewski got Chicago back within two with 6:59 remaining.

Tollefsen scored a short-handed goal into an empty net with 2:05 left.

Notes: The Blue Jackets played their first game against a fellow Central Division opponent. ... Columbus D Duvie Westcott sustained a head injury following a hit by Chicago's Kevyn Adams late in the first period and didn't return. Hitchcock said Westcott, who had a concussion last season, might need several games to recover. ... Columbus LW Fredrik Modin missed his fourth game with a groin injury. ... Blue Jackets RW Derek Dorsett missed his seventh game with a leg injury and is out four-to-six weeks. ... Chicago RW Martin Havlat missed his eighth game a right shoulder injury. He is also out four-to-six weeks.