FINAL: BLUE JACKETS 3 | FLAMES 2

October 17 | NATIONWIDE ARENA







POST GAME INTERVIEWS





Fedor Tyutin -->

Matt Calvert -->

Todd Richards -->

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IN GAME UPDATES

SECOND PERIOD RECAP:

Not much action in the second period but the Blue Jackets have the lone goal, and it's a 3-0 Columbus lead after 40 minutes at Nationwide Arena. The Jackets had a couple really good looks outside the goal (courtesy of Calvert - his first of the year) and especially on the power play, which has looked pretty fluid so far in the game. How did the third goal happen? The Calvert-Letestu-Skille line went to work in the offensive zone, and Wisniewski got the puck through from the point which caused a scramble down low. Letestu was denied first, but Calvert was there to push it across the line at 8:30 of the second period. Shots are 17-17.







Matt Calvert stuffs in the loose puck for his first of the year and a 3-0 CBJ lead -->

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Second period highlights -->

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The Blue Jackets wanted a better start tonight, and well, mission accomplished. They scored two goals in the first 5:21 of the opening period and led 8-0 in shots before the Flames registered a 125-footer on Bobrovsky midway through the frame. Skille got it started, taking a perfect feed from Letestu down low and beating Karri Ramo glove side at 2:59. Then it was Johansen on the power play continuing his hot start, converting a pass from Foligno at 5:21 for a 2-0 Columbus lead. They didn't finish the opening period with the same pace, though, and the Flames had a few chances late in the period but couldn't cash in. Shots are 8-6 favoring the Blue Jackets.







Jack Skille buries the Mark Letestu feed to make it 1-0 Jackets -->

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Ryan Johansen on the power play gives Columbus a two-goal lead -->

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First period highlights -->

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PREGAME INTERVIEWS



Michael Chaput, James Wisniewski, and Todd Richards spoke after the morning skate.







Michael Chaput-->

James Wisniewski -->

Todd Richards -->

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MORNING SKATE UPDATES

UPDATE (11:57 AM):

Calgary media reporting that Karri Ramo will start in goal for the Flames. Ramo is 2-0-0 on the season with a .934 save percentage and a 1.92 goals-against average.



- Richards acknowledged the importance of winning the final game of the home stand tonight. "You want to win every game and you don't want to look past it, but we do have four road games and they're not going to be easy, " said Richards. "We're going to face a young, hungry team that I think is playing with more and more confidence." Richards emphasized a better start than Tuesday night against the Stars.



- Todd Richards believes that it's early in the season, too early to pass positive judgment on his team's perfect penalty kill and too early to consider changes on defensive pairings. His focus remains on finding consistency.



- Richards repeated that Marko Dano is day-to-day, and he did not have an update from the medical staff today regarding Ryan Murray's progress.



- Jack Skille moves up to the third line tonight. "It's the same game, nothing changes. I'm a simple player, and I use my speed and my shot," said Skille. "[Calvert] and [Letestu] are two smart players with speed as well, and I think it's a big part of our game and we can help each other out."







Foligno-Johansen-Atkinson

Hartnell-Anisimov-Wennberg

Calvert-Letestu-Skille

Tropp-Chaput-Boll



Johnson-Savard

Erixon-Wisniewski

Tyutin-Prout



Bobrovsky

*Corey Tropp is in the line-up in place of Marko Dano, who missed practice for the second straight day and is considered day-to-day.





The Blue Jackets' lines and pairs from the morning skate..

SCOUTING REPORT

The Blue Jackets wrap up their first home stand of the season on Friday night against the visiting Calgary Flames. The Jackets look to bounce back from their first loss of the season after falling 4-2 to the Stars, while the Flames hope to extend their winning streak to three games in the fifth contest of their six-game road trip.

The Flames have been up and down in their first five games. They responded to their opening night loss against the Canucks by beating the Oilers in Edmonton, and then answered a loss in St. Louis with road wins against the Predators and Blackhawks.



Jonas Hiller was the standout star Wednesday night at United Center, making 49 saves on the night before Mikael Backlund's wrist shot off the rush beat Corey Crawford and the Blackhawks in the final minute of overtime.



Hiller was one of Calgary's more prominent off-season additions, and had platooned with Karri Ramo in goal. He was 0-2 in his first two starts for Calgary prior to Wednesday night's win.

Calgary is another team that many have thrust into the early-season forecast of the Connor McDavid/Jack Eichel draft sweepstakes, but it is a roster with talented players and proven veterans, most notably in Mark Giordano.

Giordano actually worked his way into some Norris Trophy discussion last season after a terrific campaign. He scored 14 goals and 47 points for Calgary, both career highs, in 64 games. He also had a plus-12 rating and a 5-on-5 Corsi rating of 53.6% for a Flames team that finished 13th in the Western Conference and had a goal differential of -32 for the season. He’s off on the right foot once again this season with five points in Calgary’s first four games.

The Flames also made a solid addition in the off-season up front. The Flames saw enough from Mason Raymond during the 2013-14 season in Toronto to bring him back to the Western Conference, and Raymond scored a hat trick against the Oilers in the Flames’ first win.

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Johnny Gaudreau is a full-time member of the Flames this season after playing one game for the Flames last spring and scoring his first NHL goal. The 2014 Hobey Baker Award winner from Boston College was the hot topic of conversation last spring when he decided to leave school for the NHL. Through four games this season, he is still looking for his first point.

The Blue Jackets played well in spurts during a Tuesday night loss to Dallas, but fell victim to the lethal one-two punch of Tyler Seguin (hat trick) and Jamie Benn (goal and three assists). The Flames don’t feature a prolific scoring threat, but the top defense paring of Giordano and TJ Brodie combines for nine points, and Brodie has two goals in the past three games.

The Jackets hope to see more improvement from Ryan Johansen as well. He scored both goals for the Jackets against the Stars and his conditioning is steadily improving. He said in practice that he feels great and expects to be up to full game speed in the next few games.



Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards is leaning toward splitting this weekend's back-to-back games between Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney, but said Thursday that he hasn't decided who will start Friday vs. Calgary.

PROJECTED LINEUP

(These were lines employed during Thursday’s practice) ...



Foligno-Johansen-Atkinson

Hartnell-Anisimov-Wennberg

Calvert-Letestu-Skille

Tropp-Chaput-Boll



Johnson-Savard

Erixon-Wisniewski

Tyutin-Prout



*Marko Dano (undisclosed) missed practice Thursday and is considered day-to-day.

UP NEXT

at Ottawa Senators

Saturday, 7 p.m. ET

Canadian Tire Centre