Recap
Sharks 4, Blue Jackets 2
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Brian Campbell couldn't let go of everything from his past.

A day after he was traded by Buffalo to San Jose, Campbell had an assist in the Sharks' 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. Then he packed away his equipment - in his old Sabres bag.

"I had fun out there tonight. It was nice. I'm always looking for the puck. I thought we worked it pretty good," Campbell said. "I'm just kind of sitting back a little and reading plays and seeing what I can and can't do in the system here."

Campbell had his first point in a Sharks sweater, Jonathan Cheechoo ran his goal streak to four games, Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist, and Torrey Mitchell and Jeremy Roenick also scored for the Sharks, who won their third in a row and improved to 20-8-3 on the road. Joe Thornton added two assists, and Evgeni Nabokov had 17 saves.

Sharks coach Ron Wilson liked what he saw from Campbell, who put in 16 solid minutes and was on the ice for Cheechoo's power-play goal and assisted on Pavelski's.

"He showed that he's a player, that he wants to be on the ice all the time. He's generally always in attack mode," Wilson said. "You can see he's a sneaky hitter, too. He moves pucks really well. You can see his speed. I think he will really help our power play, obviously."

Campbell was playing his first game for San Jose, which solidified its hold on fifth in the Western Conference. He was picked up along with a seventh-round draft pick on Tuesday from Buffalo for forward Steve Bernier and a first-round pick this summer.

Columbus took the ice for the first time since trading captain Adam Foote and center Sergei Fedorov. They were dealt before Tuesday's NHL trade deadline for two draft picks and a college player.

David Vyborny ended a 24-game goal drought by scoring twice for Columbus, which started the night in 11th place in the West.

"As the game went on, we were devoid of emotion," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We're not going to win games playing the way we did tonight."

The Jackets Fredrik Modin tries to steal the puck from the newest Shark, Brian Campbell, during the second period on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

The teams traded first-period goals. The Sharks scored with a man advantage, Cheechoo redirecting Pavelski's one-timer from the left circle before Vyborny backhanded a rebound past Nabokov.

Vyborny then scored his fifth of the season with an almost identical shot in the second period, backhanding another rebound high and hard past Campbell as he dived to block it.

After Mitchell redirected a long shot by Matt Carle to tie it again, the Sharks scored their second power-play goal in three chances.

With Columbus' Rick Nash in the penalty box for roughing - and a crowd of 16,029 still booing the call - Thornton saucered a pass through the slot to Roenick for a one-timer and a 3-2 lead.

"We had scoring from all over," Pavelski said. "We got a few goals from guys who hadn't scored lately. From start to finish, it was pretty solid."

Pavelski had the puck on a 2-on-1 rush at 18:52 when his pass through the slot for Tomas Plihal ricocheted off the left skate of the Blue Jackets' Jiri Novotny and past Pascal Leclaire. Pavelski was credited with his 13th goal.

"As a team, we played really solid defensively," Roenick said. "Our power play was really good. The third period we went at them, we didn't sit back, which we have done in the past."

Notes: Sharks LW Jody Shelley, Columbus' leader in penalty minutes who was traded on Jan. 29, received a video tribute during a first-period break that included clips from several of his fights. ... G Brian Boucher was on the Sharks bench. He signed a one-year deal on Tuesday. ... Vyborny hadn't had two goals in a game since March 7, 2007, against Los Angeles. ... The Blue Jackets fell to 6-26-5 when scoring two or fewer goals. They are 23-1-4 when getting at least three.


Three star selections
1st:   JOE THORNTON
2nd:   DAVID VYBORNY
3rd:   JOE PAVELSKI
Winning Goaltender
Evgeni Nabokov

Losing Goaltender
Pascal Leclaire

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
V. Prospal 48 12 18 3 30
M. Letestu 46 13 14 7 27
M. Gaborik 47 12 15 -3 27
F. Tyutin 48 4 18 9 22
B. Dubinsky 29 2 18 2 20
N. Foligno 45 6 13 6 19
J. Johnson 44 5 14 -5 19
A. Anisimov 35 11 7 -6 18
C. Atkinson 35 9 9 9 18
R. Umberger 48 8 10 3 18
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
S. Bobrovsky 21 11 6 .932 2.00
Columbusbluejackets.com is the official Web site of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Columbus Blue Jackets and columbusbluejackets.com are trademarks of The Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey Club.  NHL and the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup are registered trademarks and the NHL Shield and NHL Conference logos are trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P.  Copyright © 2009 Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey Club and the National Hockey League.  All Rights Reserved. View the Columbus Blue Jackets Privacy Policy AdChoices NHL.com Terms of Service
Please use the feedback form if you have any recommendations or comments.