Nazem Kadri scored in his 1,000th game and the Calgary Flames got off to a lightning start and claimed a 5-1 victory over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday.
Morgan Frost and Blake Coleman gave Calgary a 2-0 lead after 92 seconds. Adam Klapka and Mikael Backlund also scored for the Flames, who have won two consecutive games for the first time this season but still sit in last spot in the league standings.
Calgary goaltender Dustin Wolf sparkled, making 42 saves, 22 of them in the third period alone while the Blue Jackets attempted a comeback that fell well short.
Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus, which has dropped two games in a row. Goalie Jet Greaves stopped 21 shots for the Blue Jackets, who opened a four-game road trip.
After a pregame ceremony to honor Kadri, Frost gave the hosts a huge early boost 56 seconds into the clash by deflecting Jonathan Huberdeau’s point shot. The helper extended Huberdeau’s point streak to six games (three goals, four assists).
Coleman doubled the lead 36 seconds later by converting a shot from the left circle during a scramble.
Marchenko put the Blue Jackets on the board at 6:57 of the opening frame by finishing a short-handed breakaway opportunity.
The Flames responded with another pair of goals 37 seconds apart before the midway point of the second period to build a three-goal edge.
Kadri made his milestone game more memorable when he finished a perfectly executed 2-on-1 rush with Joel Farabee at 7:47 of the middle frame. It was his 311st career goal and his fourth of the season.
Klapka extended Calgary’s edge by finding the mark when he elected to shoot during another odd-man rush. Yan Kuznetsov, a second-round pick in the 2020 draft playing his second NHL game and first of this season, collected his first point with an assist.
Backlund’s empty-net goal with 49 seconds remaining rounded out the scoring.
–Field Level Media
