Milestone night of offense sparks Blue Jackets past St. Louis

By Bud L. Ellis

Raffi Torres found the back of the net twice, Rick Nash netted his 400th career point and Chris Clark scored his first goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The offensive highlights add up to a 4-2 Columbus victory over St. Louis on Monday in Columbus, the Blue Jackets recovering from a loss last week to Blues during which St. Louis scored three times in the first period.

In this one, Columbus controlled things. Paul Kariya scored on the power play 71 seconds in to give the Blues a short-lived 1-0 lead. Torres then netted his first three minutes later, then added his second at the 11:45 mark to make it 2-1 Jackets.

In the second, Nash scored on the power play at the 4:20 mark for his milestone point. Clark’s first Columbus goal came 85 seconds into the third and gave the Jackets breathing room.

Mathieu Garon made it stand up, recording 30 saves for the Blue Jackets.

Columbus, in 14th place in the Western Conference, travels to Philadelphia Tuesday.

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 5:50 am by bud

Tags: Chris Clark, Columbus Blue Jackets, Mathieu Garon, National Hockey League, Paul Kariya, Philadelphia Flyers, Raffi Torres, Rick Nash, St. Louis Blues