Recap
Canucks 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Even with gold-medal winning goaltender Roberto Luongo taking the night off, the Vancouver Canucks had enough firepower to rally from behind twice.

Vancouver defenseman Christian Ehrhoff scored 1:33 into overtime to lift the Canucks past the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Tuesday.

U.S. Olympic team member Ryan Kessler missed the net wide right but the puck caromed off the end boards to Ehrhoff, who snapped home a shot at the other side of the goal for his 12th.

"I just went with the guys and joined the play," said Ehrhoff, a German Olympian. "It kind of took a good bounce for me, and I just put it on net and the goalie wasn't there."

Kyle Wellwood scored the tying goal, his eighth, with 5:19 left in regulation, converting a pass from Mason Raymond into a wide open net after a horrible giveaway by defenseman Grant Clitsome near the Columbus goal. Wellwood also had an assist.

"We find a way to get it done in the third in a league that's very tough to come back," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said of his club that's now 8-15-1 when trailing after two periods.

Alexandre Burrows also had a goal and assist, and Pavol Demitra found the net for Vancouver, who fell behind 2-0 after one period.

Andrew Raycroft finished with 27 saves filling in for Luongo.

Andrew Murray, Antoine Vermette and Derek Dorsett scored for Columbus. Clitsome, added to the roster as an emergency recall, had two assists in his first career NHL game.

Steve Mason had 27 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost their ninth game when leading after two periods.

Some players thought the two-week break for the Olympics had an effect on the play.

"Oh yeah, you've got to expect that," Dorsett said. "You know you take 16 days off, or whatever it was, and you're going to have some sloppy plays."

Vancouver resumed its 14-game road trip, the longest in league history. The Canucks played the first eight before the Olympics, going 4-4, and don't return to GM Place until March 13.

Vancouver carried the tempo most of the first period, but Columbus jumped ahead on two quick-strike scores with Clitsome springing the counterattacks.

Murray got the puck and chipped it past the Canucks defense into open space down the right wing. He zoomed in alone on Raycroft, beating him with a high shot for his first goal in a year.

On a similar play into the zone, Vermette, while falling down, whipped a shot under Raycroft's glove that trickled over the goal line at 17:30 for his 20th. The goal withstood a video review.

The Canucks responded with two of their own in the middle frame, despite being outshot 16-6.

"They were all over us," Vigneault said. "They had momentum. Razor came up real big."

Burrows converted a between-the-legs pass from Wellwood from near the crease early in the period. The goal was the 27th for the fifth-year left wing, setting a personal career high in points.

"I was saying to him that I think it's my first assist of 2010," Wellwood said. "It's definately been hard to come by but it's nice that he put one in for me."

Demitra, who led Olympic scoring playing for Slovakia, followed at the 9:55 mark with his second, scooping up a loose puck in the slot and zipping it near side by Mason for the power-play tally.

Columbus regained the lead six minutes later when Clitsome cleared the puck to Jake Voracek at the Vancouver blue line. Voracek tapped it to Torres, the center of several trade rumors. The sturdy winger then set up Dorsett, who converted a 2-on-1 for this third.

Notes: The Canucks won the season series 3-1. ... Both teams entered the game having won three of their last five games before the Olympic break. ... Blue Jackets interim coach Claude Noel is 3-1-2 since replacing Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 3. ... Rick Nash's seven-game point streak ended.


Three star selections
1st:   CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF
2nd:   KYLE WELLWOOD
3rd:   GRANT CLITSOME
Winning Goaltender
Andrew Raycroft

Losing Goaltender
Steve Mason

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
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