Blue Jackets face Flames next on western Canada trip
CALGARY, Alberta -- The Columbus Blue Jackets kicked off their final extended road trip of the regular season with a come-from-behind 7-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
Now the Blue Jackets (43-29-5) want to keep that momentum going when they face the struggling Calgary Flames (35-32-10) on Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
"We wanted to start it off with a win, obviously," Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner said in regard to the team's road swing through western Canada. "We've got two more games left on the trip. They're all big points. We're just looking forward to Calgary now, getting the job done there. It's a big win for us (against Edmonton), but we've just got to gear up for the next one."
Jenner and linemates Thomas Vanek and Alexander Wennberg combined for nine points against the Oilers, who jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before the Jackets rallied for their 11th win in their past 12 games.
"We can feel it as a line," said Jenner, who scored once and set up two others, Vanek finished with a hat trick and an assist, and Wennberg had two assists. "We're always talking. We're getting more and more comfortable with each other and each other's tendencies and where to be for each other. It's a lot better when you're like that. You can get that chemistry going."
Cam Atkinson, Artemi Panarin and Markus Nutivaara also scored for the Jackets, who bounced back from a 2-1 loss at home to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
"It's amazing how many guys were not rolling the first half of the season and how we, as a team, stuck with it and found ways to get points to get to where we are now," said Atkinson, who has put up seven goals and four assists in his past nine games. "In order for us to go on this deep run, you need your best players going (and) you need your veteran guys going, and all the older guys have been stepping up."
While the Blue Jackets have firmly entrenched themselves into a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a six-point bulge in the wild-card race, the Flames have completely fallen out of the postseason picture in the Western Conference.
By virtue of a 3-0 road loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Flames were mathematically eliminated on Monday.
"If you look at the way our team's played, we're battling," said Flames coach Glen Gulutzan, whose team has dropped six straight decisions and seven of their past eight. "Guys are fighting still until the end. We're never laying down and getting outshot and outplayed and dominated, but we're having trouble scoring, there's no question."
Already missing forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk because of injuries, the Flames are also playing without leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau, who returned home to New Jersey earlier this week after his father, Guy Gaudreau, suffered a cardiac event on Sunday.
"It's really family first there right now. He needs to be there," said Gulutzan, who hasn't been displeased with the effort level of his players in the absence of Gaudreau, Monahan and Tkachuk. "When you take your top three scorers out of the lineup, it stings. As far as work ethic ... that's one thing that we can always bring to the table and that's what our guys are doing right now is working their tails off and battling."
With four of Calgary's five remaining games on home ice, defenseman Mark Giordano said he and his teammates want to "come out and play with emotion and show the character we have in this room."
The Calgary captain added, "We know we haven't played as well as we've wanted too on home ice, so in these last few games at home try and bring a lot of energy and emotion and give our crowd a few great home games."
