The Vancouver Canucks' Sami Salo, left, and the Columbus Blue Jackets' Kristian Huselius battle for the puck during the second period on Monday. (Paul Vernon/Associated Press)

The Vancouver Canucks lost their third straight game Monday night, falling 3-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Ohio.

The first period was scoreless thanks in part to Canucks goalie Curtis Sanford, who made several stellar saves and 11 overall in the first frame.

Teammate Kyle Wellwood opened the scoring with a power-play goal three minutes and 27 seconds into the second period for his tenth goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets responded six minutes later, when Fredrik Modin scored his own power-play marker.

The Canucks gained momentum in the third period and Kevin Bieka scored the team's second goal five minutes and 28 seconds into the frame. It was the third power-play goal of the game.

The Canucks had a chance to put more distance between them and the Blue Jackets when Daniel Sedin had a breakaway a few minutes later. But the Swede failed to capitalize.

The Blue Jackets responded by scoring two goals.

Andy Murray tied the game at two when he lifted a backhand shot over a sprawling rookie Corey Schneider, who had taken over form Sanford when the latter suffered back spasms.

"I haven't been contributing like I need to," Murray said. "To be able to score a big third-period goal in a tight game like this, it's a great feeling."

Kristian Huselius added another goal just over six minutes later and the Blue Jackets hung on for the win.

The goal was set up by Rick Nash, who had two defenders on him as he carried the puck out of the corner before feeding Huselius, who was standing at the right side of the crease.

"It was a great pass, a great effort," Huselius said. "Rick caught two guys playing him and made a great pass to me, and I just had to one-time it."

Blue Jackets rookie goalie Steve Mason was stellar in the fading seconds, withstanding a Vancouver onslaught. The Canucks put four shots on goal, had two others go just wide and had another blocked during the frantic finish.

Mason's best save came with his glove on the ice on a shot by Wellwood.

"It was definitely a big scrum," said Mason, who stopped 29 shots in the game. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of, especially since we came out on the winning end."

His performance brought the appreciative crowd to its feet.

With files from the Associated Press