VANCOUVER, British Columbia(AP) -- Columbus captain Rick Nash was
impressed by his team's ability to get a big lead fast, but not
nearly as much by how they held onto it.

Kristian Huselius, Rostislav Klesla and Nikita Filatov scored
over a 3:44 span early in the second period to chase star
Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo and lead the Columbus Blue
Jackets to a 5-3 win over the Canucks on Monday night.

After Antoine Vermette scored with 42 seconds left in the first
period to tie the game, Huselius started the scoring spree by
using Nash as a decoy off the rush and blowing a wrist shot past
Luongo's glove at 2:07. Klesla scored on a wrist shot through
traffic at 5:29, and Filatov finished a 3-on-2 with a shot
through Luongo's legs 22 seconds later to give Columbus a 4-1
lead.

"It was impressive," said Nash, who had three assists as
Columbus opened the season with consecutive wins for the first
time in franchise history. "We had tones of chances, we were
moving it, and we were getting some good shots off. It was
really fun hockey for us."

The fun ended shortly after the Blue Jackets went up by three
goals.

Christian Ehrhoff responded three minutes later, and Willie
Mitchell pulled the Canucks within a goal 7:37 into the third
period as Vancouver blitzed the Blue Jackets goal. But Steve
Mason, who finished with 40 saves, made a big glove stop off
Mikael Samuelsson and another great pad denial on Alexandre
Burrows just before Fedor Tyutin made it 5-3 on the power play
with 4:57 left to play.

"We dominated the first half of the second period and then we
really sat back, Nash added. "We have to find a happy medium,
somewhere between there and how we finished."

Vancouver isn't having problems finishing, but slow starts have
been costly.

Henrik Sedin also scored for the Canucks, who have lost their
first three games of the season for the first time since 2001
despite averaging 40 shots a game.

"We got ourselves into a hole early and kind of like the fist
two games tried to battle back," said Luongo. "But it's tough
come back in this league."

It's even tougher when your star goaltender is struggling.

Luongo, who signed a 12-year, $64-million contract extension
late in the summer, came in with an uncharacteristic .857 save
percentage, and left after giving up Filatov scored having given
up four goals on just 12 shots.

"A lot of the chances are coming off the rush so we have to make
sure have a third man high and limit the rushes, but at the same
time I've got to make some saves here," said Luongo.

Sedin opened the scoring with 4:31 left in the first period, and
Vancouver had a great chance to extend its lead with a lengthy
5-on-3. But after Russian rookie Sergei Shirokov missed a couple
of great chances the Blue Jackets tied it just as the second
penalty ended, with Nash feeding Vermette a backdoor tap in.

"To kill off a 5-on-3 and score that goal and come into the
locker room tied was a huge momentum swing," said Nash.

It kept swinging against Luongo early in the second period.

"You get scored on a backdoor tap-in and all of a sudden you are
subconsciously trying to play both guys," said Luongo. "And
you're not playing the shooter and you end up being deep in your
net and that's how the second goal went in. You just have to
focus on your job and trust your teammates.

Backup Andrew Raycroft stopped 11 of 12 in his surprise
regular-season debut and almost got his first win as the Canucks
rallied after Luongo was pulled.

"He's the least of my concerns, Canucks coach Alain Vigneault
said. "Roberto is one of the best goaltenders and definitely one
of the hardest workers in this league, so he's going to find his
game, like he always does."

Columbus forward Jared Boll left the game early in the first
period after being slammed face-first into the boards, first by
Rick Rypien and then by Darcy Hordichuk, who received a roughing
penalty on the play.

"He is not good," coach Ken Hitchcock said of Boll, adding he
wasn't sure if he'd be able to fly to San Jose with the team.
"Some kind of concussion right now and I'm sure the league will
be looking at the hit.

NOTES: Columbus D Mike Commodore has missed both games with a
groin strain, but is skating and could make his season debut as
a three-game road trip continues in San Jose on Thursday. D
Anton Stralman, acquired from Calgary in a Sept. 28 trade,
finally joined the Blue Jackets in Vancouver after a delay
getting his U.S. work visa, but did not play.