by Aaron Portzline, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH , The Columbus Dispatch

A 3-2 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks before 13,401 in Nationwide Arena was not particularly memorable. Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle scored in the second round of the shootout, the only player to do so.

"We played a very good game against a very good team," Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash said. "It was really physical and really high-paced out there. We can draw a lot of positives out of a game like this."

After a six-day stretch that pitted the Blue Jackets against three of the NHL's most dynamic clubs -- Pittsburgh, Washington and San Jose -- the results require a measuring stick.

The Blue Jackets lost in a shootout to Pittsburgh on Friday and beat Washington in overtime Sunday. They took four out of a possible six points.

"Obviously, we can't be too disappointed," said Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason, who has made perhaps the most improvement of anybody on the club. "We got a point out of every game, but at the same time we let a point get away against Pittsburgh and we left a point out there tonight to a team from our conference.

"I think we have something to build off, and everybody is pretty pleased with our overall play the last three games."

Nash and Jason Chimera scored goals the Blue Jackets , and Mason had 36 saves. Nikita Filatov, Anton Stralman and Nash failed on shootout attempts.

The Blue Jackets , playing without forwards Kristian Huselius (left arm) and Derick Brassard (right hand) and defenseman Mike Commodore (charley horse), came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits despite losing third-line center Mike Blunden (upper body) only one shift into the second period.

At 9:18 of the first, Chimera closed in on Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and redirected a shot from defenseman Fedor Tyutin to tie the score at 1.

After allowing a power-play goal early in the second, the Blue Jackets got it back with one of their own late in the period. It might have been the Blue Jackets' best power-play display since the days of Ray Whitney.

"That really showed our hunger," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We needed to take advantage of that one, because the feeling among the players was that we might not get another one."

The Blue Jackets teed up numerous chances, taking advantage of injured Sharks defenseman Rob Blake, who couldn't get off the ice because the puck never left the zone.

Nash capped the barrage by shooting a rebound into the net at a nearly impossible angle, maybe an inch above the extended goal line to Nabokov's left. That made it 2-2 at 16:45 of the second.

"The confidence now is that we can play with good teams," Hitchcock said. "Now it's whether we can motivate ourselves every night -- that's what good teams do.

"We want to prove we're a good team. We've got guys digging in right now. We're emotionally starting to connect with each other."

aportzline@dispatch.com

Box Story: Game wrap-up

\ THREE STARS

* Dan Boyle, D, Sharks: Played 26 minutes, scored the shootout winner and had an assist

* Steve Mason, G, Blue Jackets : Appears back in 2008-09 form; had 36 saves

* Evgeni Nabokov, G, Sharks: Was a sturdy presence, denying 26 of 28 shots

\ GAME SUMMARY

San Jose 1 1 0 0 -- 3 \ Columbus 1 1 0 0 -- 2 \ San Jose won shootout 1-0

FIRST PERIOD: Scoring -- 1, San Jose, Thornton 4 (Clowe, Blake), 6:32. 2, Columbus, Chimera 4 (Tyutin, Stralman), 9:18. Penalties -- Huskins, SJ, major (fighting), 13:42; Boll, Clm, served by Torres, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 13:42.

SECOND: Scoring -- 3, San Jose, Heatley 10 (Marleau, Boyle), 4:17 (pp). 4, Columbus, Nash 10 (Umberger, Stralman), 16:45 (pp). Penalties -- Tyutin, Clm (tripping), 4:09; Staubitz, SJ, minor-major-misconduct (instigator, fighting), 15:23; Boll, Clm, major (fighting), 15:23.

SHOOTOUT: -- San Jose 1 (Couture NG, Boyle G), Columbus 0 (Filatov NG, Stralman NG, Nash NG).

Shots on goal: San Jose 7-16-13-2--38. Columbus 7-13-6-2--28. Power plays: San Jose 1 of 2; Columbus 1 of 1. Goalies: San Jose, Nabokov 10-3-1 (28 shots-26 saves). Columbus, Mason 6-4-2 (38-36). A: 13,401. T: 2:35.

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