But given Huselius' attention to detail, he likely drifted off to sleep a few hours later thinking not of the goal he scored but the ones he didn't. Huselius had at least six other prime scoring chances he wasn't able to convert, either because of great saves by a red-hot goaltender or because Huselius fired the puck high or wide.

It was that kind of night for the Blue Jackets, who lost 3-2 to the Phoenix Coyotes before 14,569 in Nationwide Arena.

They were so passionate and full of energy -- even sparking a near fight at the end of pregame warm-ups -- but still unable to gain a win at home.

"(Coyotes goaltender Mikael Tellqvist) played well," Huselius said. "But it's up to us to score, get traffic in front of the net and bear down.

"We had a lot of chances. We should have put them away earlier."

Huselius and Jason Chimera scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost three in a row at home and now three in a row this season to an average Phoenix club.

The Coyotes, who had lost six straight games, got goals from Dan Carcillo, David Hale and rookie Viktor Tikhonov, plus 38 saves by Tellqvist, their backup.

It was Tikhonov's goal that was the back breaker.

It came with 2:32 remaining, when he slipped behind two Blue Jackets defenders, Huselius and Jan Hejda. He made a nifty move before beating goaltender Steve Mason with a roofer stick side.

The game started with a flurry. Actually, it began before the game even started.

At the end of the pregame skate, Chimera fired a puck at Carcillo, the Coyotes' resident fire starter. The yapping began at center ice, with Derek Dorsett joining Chimera and Carcillo.

No surprise, then, that Carcillo and Chimera dropped the gloves only 4:49 into the game. It was a wild affair, starting in the right faceoff circle and ending up at center ice.

Call it a draw, but the Blue Jackets and Dorsett might have been the ultimate losers. Dorsett skated straight to the dressing room for X-rays on a hand. No report was available immediately available, but he did not return to the game.

Huselius gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead a few minutes later. He was sprung free on a breakaway by a Fedor Tyutin pass, scoring just three seconds after a Coyotes power play had expired.

If he'd buried even half of his chances, Huselius would have had a hat trick. Instead, he came oh so close on at least five other prime chances the rest of the night.

Slowly, the Coyotes, at the end of a four-game trip, got their legs.

At 9:41 of the second period, Coyotes defenseman David Hale scored to make it 1-1. Just 2 minutes later, Carcillo redirected a shot to make it 2-1 Phoenix.

The Blue Jackets made it 2-2 on Chimera's goal, off a two-on-one feed from R.J. Umberger.

The Jackets had three power-play chances in the third period -- including a two-man advantage for 54 seconds beginning with 6:13 to play -- but couldn't convert.

aportzline@dispatch.com