Blue Jackets 3, Canucks 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With one flip of the puck, R.J. Umberger and the Columbus Blue Jackets both got off the schneid.
Umberger scored his first goal of the season at 11:14 of the third period, and the Blue Jackets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks before 14,168 in Nationwide Arena.
Marian Gaborik and Ryan Johansen also scored for the Blue Jackets (3-5-0). Columbus earned its first home victory of the season.
Johansen's second goal of the season, an empty-netter with 27 seconds remaining, capped the scoring.
The Canucks (5-4-1) looked tired and lethargic in the fourth game of a seven-game road trip. Henrik Sedin scored Vancouver's only goal, a power-play marker midway through the second period.
The game featured both teams' backup goaltenders.
Curtis McElhinney made his first start of the year for the Blue Jackets, and he stopped 37 of 38 shots. He robbed Chris Higgins with a right pad save with 48.0 seconds remaining to preserve a 2-1 lead.
It was his first NHL game since Dec. 31, 2011, when he played for the Phoenix Coyotes.
Vancouver's Eddie Lack, meanwhile, gave starter Robert Luongo his second night off this season. Lack stopped 27 of 28 shots, but he was placed in a bad position by Canucks forward Chris Higgins on Umberger's game-winner.
Umberger skated behind Higgins and gathered a slick pass from Johansen just a few strides in front of Lack. Umberger gathered the puck and snapped off a wrister that whizzed under Lack's glove.
It was a much-needed goal for Umberger. After five consecutive seasons of 20-plus goals, Umberger dipped to only eight goals in 48 games last season, and he was goalless through the first seven games this season.
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead 3:27 into the game.
Artem Anisimov turned and fired the puck from the top of the right circle. Gaborik extended his stick and used the blade to lift Anisimov's shot up and over Lack's left pad.
The Canucks tied the score at 10:42 of the second after Blue Jackets rookie defenseman Ryan Murray was penalized for hooking.
It was not a typical goal by Sedin, who turned NFL fullback and plowed the puck into the net after Ryan Kesler put it in the slot with a nifty feed between his legs.
NOTES: Gaborik's goal gave the Blue Jackets their first lead in 209 minutes, 7 seconds. They last led in the second period of a Oct. 10 loss to the Boston Bruins, a span of four games. ... After missing three games for what the Blue Jackets described as "personal reasons," LW Nick Foligno returned to the lineup. ... Vancouver was without C Jordan Schroeder after he suffered a second-period leg injury on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Canucks recalled C Jeremy Welsh from AHL Utica. ... With McElhinney seeing his first action for Columbus, only two NHL teams have yet to play their back-up goalies: the San Jose Sharks and Boston.
