Mason earns third straight shutout as Blue Jackets blank Ducks 2-0

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Rookie Steve Mason became the first Columbus goalie to post shutouts in three consecutive games, and Craig MacDonald scored in his Blue Jackets debut, leading them to a 2-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.

Mason stopped 27 shots, giving him 71 saves in the three victories against the Ducks, Philadelphia and Los Angeles and extending his shutout streak to a franchise-record 182 minutes eight seconds.

The six-foot-four phenom leads the NHL with a 1.69 goals-against average, and his fifth shutout tied injured Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo for the most in the league. It was Mason's 19th career start and first against the Ducks.

Mason's flawless streak appeared to end at 17:52 of the second period after Corey Perry circled the net with the puck and came out in front with it before beating Mason to the glove side. But referee Rob Shick immediately waved the goal off, having blown his whistle to call penalties against Ryan Getzlaf and R.J. Umberger. Each was called for roughing, and Getzlaf got an extra two minutes for interference.

Mason's 2-0 win on Monday night at Staples Center made him the third goalie in Blue Jackets history to record shutouts in back-to-back games. Fredrik Norrena did it Dec. 2-5, 2006, against Edmonton and Colorado. Former Ducks goalie Ron Tugnutt also accomplished the feat March 14-16, 2001, against Calgary and Atlanta.

McDonald, who was recalled from Syracuse of the AHL on Saturday, redirected Mike Commodore's 55-foot slap shot over goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere's glove with 12:27 left in the game. Columbus is McDonald's seventh NHL team in the last six seasons. He played in 65 games last season with Tampa Bay, getting two goals and nine assists.

Michael Peca scored with 3:34 to play, beating Giguere from 20 feet in the slot.

Columbus' victory ended a string of five consecutive losses to the Ducks. The Blue Jackets diffused five Anaheim power plays, extending their streak to 17 straight penalty-kills and 37 of the last 40.

Anaheim was shut out for the second time this season. Evgeni Nabokov beat them 2-0 with 31 saves on Dec. 11 at San Jose. The last time they were blanked at home was Dec. 2, 2007, when Mathieu Garon made 25 saves in a 4-0 win.

Giguere, who had never played in an all-star game, leads Luongo by more than 82,000 votes in online fan balloting - which ends on Friday - and is pretty much a lock to be the starting goalie for the Western Conference all-stars in his hometown of Montreal on Jan. 25.

Notes: The Ducks began the calendar year 8-0-1 and finished 2008 with a 47-25-7 regular-season record. Columbus was 33-37-10 in 2008. ... Columbus RW Jared Boll is one of three forwards in the league who has played at least 30 games this season without scoring a goal. The others are Minnesota LW Derek Boogaard and Nashville RW Wade Belak. St. Louis RW Cam Janssen, still looking for his first goal, will play his 30th game on Friday. ... Columbus has played on New Year's Eve in every season since joining the NHL in 2000-01 5-3-0. Last year, Nash had a hat trick had a hat trick in a 4-3 win against Edmonton. ... Columbus captain Rick Nash played in his 400th NHL regular-season game. ... Ducks D Bret Hedican sat out because of an upper body injury, the first game he's missed since joining the lineup on Oct. 27. He signed with them four days earlier as a free agent, after spending the previous six seasons with Carolina. ... The Blue Jackets were 0-for-0-for-4 on the power play, and are a league-worst 17-for-165.