Canucks hope to extend surge against Blue Jackets

The sizzling Vancouver Canucks will face the basement- dwelling Blue Jackets, as Columbus hosts tonight's battle at Nationwide Arena.

Vancouver has won four straight and nine of its last 10 games and the defending Western Conference champions have registered four or more goals in six consecutive outings.

The Canucks have also won five straight as the road team, including the first two stops on a five-game swing. Vancouver, which is 10-6-0 as the guest this year, opened the trip with Thursday's 4-3 shootout win in Montreal and disposed of the Ottawa Senators, 4-1, on Saturday.

Ryan Kesler had two goals and an assist to help lead the Canucks to Saturday's triumph over the Senators. Alexander Edler and Dale Weise also lit the lamp for the Canucks, while Roberto Luongo made 24 saves.

"Wins on the road are huge in this league," said Edler. "We played hard tonight and we're able to get some early goals."

The Canucks have also dominated the recent series with the Blue Jackets, winning nine straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings. Columbus hasn't won a game in this series since notching a road win on Oct. 5, 2009. The Canucks have also won five straight in Ohio.

Columbus, which is last in the Central Division and Western Conference, has lost three of its last four games. The Blue Jackets have also dropped two in a row to open a five-game homestand and were dealt a 5-3 loss by Boston on Saturday. Columbus is 5-8-2 on home ice this year and has lost three straight at Nationwide Arena.

The Jackets scored the first two goals of the game against the Bruins, but the road team rallied for the win. While up 2-0 in the first, Columbus failed to capitalize on a four-minute power play. Boston followed that penalty kill by scoring twice in the final 1:34 of the first to even the score at 2-2.

"We had a few chances there and didn't extend that lead," Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel said.

Jeff Carter, Rick Nash and R.J. Umberger scored for the Blue Jackets, who received 24 saves from Curtis Sanford.

Columbus right wing Derek Dorsett suffered a lower body injury on Saturday when he collided with Boston goaltender Tim Thomas and had to be helped off the ice. Tests did not reveal any ligament damage or bone breaks and Dorsett, who has six goals and two assists in 29 games this season, is said to be day- to-day.