Rittich stops 43 shots as Flames beat Blue Jackets 3-0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Calgary's Sean Monahan ended a personal 13-game scoreless streak with a goal that proved to be the winner.
Monahan, Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk scored, and David Rittich recorded the shutout as the Flames beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 Saturday night.
The Flames (8-6-2) won their second game in two nights and dealt Columbus its fourth straight loss, and second straight at home.
Rittich stopped 43 shots for his seventh victory and second shutout.
"Rittich was dialed in and in control all night long," Flames coach Bill Peters said. "It was a real good effort by him. He's been solid all year."
Columbus (5-6-3) outshot the Flames 43-29 and goalie Joonas Korpisalo lost his third straight start.
Monahan got the Flames on the board early, beating Korpisalo with a high shot from right in front of the net at 3:44 of the first period. Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau assisted on Monahan's third goal of the season.
It was his first goal since Oct. 5.
"You play in this league a long time, you are going to go through stretches and not find the back of the net," Monahan said. "You've got to focus on the little things. That what I tried to do."
Calgary led 2-0 after Korpisalo chased a wide shot by Derek Ryan, leaving an open net for Bennett, who buried the puck at 8:20 of the second period for his third goal of the season.
Matthew Tkachuk made it 3-0 with an empty-net goal at 17:21 of the third.
Jackets captain Nick Foligno said letting opposing teams get on the board first has been a challenge for Columbus.
"I think the real tale of this game is honestly our start," he said. "For whatever reason, we have a difficult time setting the tone of how we want to play. I think that's the difference in the game."
Coach John Tortorella agreed.
"Our start was terrible," he said. "After that, I thought we played hard. Did we make a lot of plays? No. We just didn't execute. It's unacceptable how we started the game."
NOTES: Sonny Milano's penalty with 27.5 seconds left in the first period was his sixth in 12 games. ,,, With the win, Calgary started its third back-to-back series of the season, while the Jackets finished their fourth. ... Kole Sherwood, a native of New Albany, Ohio, left in the second period after a punch in the face by Milan Lucic, but later returned.
NEXT UP
Flames: At Washington on Sunday.
Blue Jackets: Host Las Vegas on Tuesday.
