PREVIEW: Blue Jackets continue road trek in Calgary

The Edmonton Oilers entered Tuesday night’s game against the Blue Jackets as the hottest team in the NHL, but for two periods you wouldn’t have known it.

Columbus led just about every statistical category, both traditional and new-age, through 40 minutes. It was a 1-1 game, but the Blue Jackets had edges in shots on goal (23-13), shot attempts at 5-on-5 (42-23), high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5 (10-4) and expected goals at 5-on-5 (2.60-0.78) per Natural Stat Trick.

In short, it was exactly the way a head coach like Pascal Vincent would want a team to pressure and play against any team in the NHL.

“Our gap was right,” Vincent said. “Our forecheck was right. Puck management was right. We didn't spend too much time in the D-zone, and that's a team that spends a lot of time in the offensive zone. We did a good job at breaking up plays and breaking out.

“The first two periods, this is the type of hockey that we expect to play in the future but for 60 minutes. But when we talk about our style of play, it was the first two periods. That’s how we want to play.”

As Vincent alluded to, the games are more than two periods long, and the Jackets couldn’t sustain things in the third period. With confidence brimming from a 13-game winning streak entering the game, Edmonton battled back and pulled away to the 4-1 victory, another example of a team with more experience and veteran players winning the third period against Columbus.

And as Vincent said, the goal is to try to build on the mentality that allowed the Blue Jackets to dominate the first two periods of play.

“We went at them, and it caused a lot of turnovers,” defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “I thought we played really well in the first two and gave ourselves a real good chance, so that’s a positive from tonight. … But it’s frustrating. We lost. We put in a good first two periods in a really tough building and had an opportunity to squander some good times for them, and it's just tough to leave without that one.”

One of the things a team has to learn as it figures out how to win, other than self belief, is how to ride the momentum shifts of the game. When Edmonton found the time to strike, the Oilers did, in part because the Blue Jackets couldn’t take advantages of their opportunities and pull away in the early going.

“It gives them life,” Gudbranson said. “That’s a good hockey team. We had our chances, but we didn't necessarily get ahead of them. Maybe that would have changed something, but you have to put them away when you have them on the ropes."

Know The Foe: Calgary Flames

Head coach: Ryan Huska (first season)

Team stats: Goals per game: 3.11 (17th) | Scoring defense: 3.11 (16th) | PP: 13.5 percent (30th) | PK: 84.4 percent (3rd)

The narrative: Calgary’s 111-point season two years ago seems eons ago, as it’s quite a different squad in the Stampede City these days. Johnny Gaudreau, of course, is in Columbus, while Darryl Sutter has left as coach and Matthew Tkachuk was traded in a blockbuster deal that netted Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. In the end, though, it doesn’t seem as though the Flames have made progress, as last year was a disappointing season without a playoff berth and the squad is on the outside looking in at the moment this year.

Team leaders: Blake Coleman is having a tremendous season, as the veteran forward leads Calgary in goals (tied for first with 20), points (39) and plus-minus rating (plus-24). Nazem Kadri was added as a big free agent signing before last season and has a 16-22-38 line, while Yegor Sharangovich’s first year in Calgary has been a success as he has 20 goals among his 34 points. Elias Lindholm, the lone survivor of the Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk trio, has an 8-23-31 line, while Weegar leads the defense with 11 goals (tied for third among NHL defensemen) and 28 points.

Jacob Markstrom has been the top netminder for the squad this year, going 13-11-2 with a 2.59 GAA and .912 save percentage.

What's new: Calgary got off to a woeful 4-8-2 start and has been trying to make up ground all season. The team has alternated winning streaks and losing streaks of late; right now, the Flames have lost three in a row after Tuesday’s setback vs. St. Louis, with that coming after a season-best four-game winning streak.

Trending: The Blue Jackets posted a 3-1 win over the Flames on Oct. 20 in Nationwide Arena to earn a second straight home victory in the series. After losing six straight in the series from 2018-29 to 2021-22, the Blue Jackets earned points in both games last year, falling in Calgary by a 4-3 score in overtime.

Former CBJ: None

Roster Report

Projected Lineup (subject to change)

Johnny Gaudreau – Cole Sillinger – Yegor Chinakhov
Adam Fantilli – Boone Jenner – Jack Roslovic
Kent Johnson – Dmitri Voronkov – Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth
Zach Werenski – Adam Boqvist
Ivan Provorov – Damon Severson
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Daniil Tarasov
Elvis Merzlikins

Scratches: Mathieu Olivier, Emil Bemstrom, Andrew Peeke

Injured reserve: Zach Werenski (ankle, out four to six weeks as of Dec. 27); Patrik Laine (fractured clavicle, out six weeks as of Dec. 15)

Roster Report: Werenski returns after missing 10 games because of injury, while Jiricek has been assigned to AHL Cleveland.

3 Stats to Know

• Dmitri Voronkov’s goal Tuesday gave him three in the last three games. He’s now fourth among NHL rookies in goals (10) and sixth in points (23).
• The Blue Jackets have two of the four NHL rookies with at least 10 goals on the season in Voronkov and Adam Fantilli (11). The others are Chicago’s Connor Bedard (15) and Minnesota’s Marco Rossi (13).
• Milestone watch: Forward Justin Danforth is three games from 100 in his NHL career (21-14-35, 97 games played).

Who’s Hot

Cole Sillinger has been one of the hottest players on the team, posting a 7-2-9 line and a plus-5 rating in the last 14 games. ... Johnny Gaudreau has a 3-11-14 line in the last 16 games. ... Yegor Chinakhov has registered 8-6-14 over the last 18 games. ... Rookie Adam Fantilli is tied for fourth among NHL rookies in points (25). ... The team’s rookie stat line of 22-35-57 is first in the NHL in goals and second in points.

This Day in CBJ History

Jan. 25, 2009: Rick Nash notches a goal and two assists in the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal while making his fourth appearance in the annual contest.

Jan. 25, 2016: Cam Atkinson earns the third hat trick of his CBJ career, putting three goals past Montreal netminder Mike Condon as part of a 5-2 Jackets win in Nationwide Arena.

Jan. 25, 2019: Playing in their second NHL All-Star Games, Cam Atkinson (3-2-5) and Seth Jones (2-2-4) help the Metropolitan Division win the 3-on-3 tournament title for the second time in three years after a 10-5 victory over the Pacific Division in the final.

Jan. 25, 2023: Kent Johnson scores the first overtime winner in his NHL career, lifting the Blue Jackets past Edmonton by a 3-2 score in Rogers Place.