Columbus sophomore reaching milestone

At his current pace, Columbus left winger Rick Nash will finish with 54 goals to become just the third teenager in NHL history to reach the half-century mark.

The 19-year-old splendid sophomore would join Wayne Gretzky (51 goals in 1979-80 with Edmonton) and Jimmy Carson (55 goals in 1987-88 with Los Angeles) in the record books. Nash is neither a Gretzky nor a Carson, but his biggest challenge will be to prove he can maintain his level of play for many years and not burn out before he's 30 as Carson did.

Nash's 16 goals are one short of his rookie total last season, and he's already establishing himself as one of the league's top up-and-coming power forwards. He knows slumps will occur, but said he hopes they won't last too long if he just concentrates on playing hard each shift and every game to help his team win.

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