5 Things - Flames @ Blue Jackets

1. Forever Family

The Flames face the Blue Jackets in stop four of this current five-game road swing looking to build off a 2-1 victory in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

At Monday's practice in the Ohio capital, the pace was high, the energy was ramped up, and the group looked every bit the part of a team enjoying their day at the office ahead of Tuesday's tilt against Columbus.

The 30-minute session was the Flames' first real practice in over a week, and for defenceman Rasmus Andersson, running through the paces at game speed was important, as his team looks to build off their triumph over the Penguins.

"This league is a fast league," he said Monday. "I felt like the last four games before Pittsburgh (weren’t) our best, so it was good to bounce back, it’s (Pittsburgh) a tough building to win in.

"It was nice to get that win, something to build on for sure."

But as practice drew to a close, the Flames welcomed some special guests bench-side at the Blue Jackets' practice rink. Johnny Gaudreau's wife Meredith and their three young children stopped by to say hello, Andersson taking their daughter Noa in his arms, out for a twirl on the ice amid hugs and hellos.

Noa - sporting a custom No. 13 Flames jacket - joined Andersson, too, for his post-practice media session, during which the Swedish defenceman reflected on how special it was to share a few moments with the family of his former Flames teammate.

"It is really special to come out here and get to see them," Andersson said. "It fulfills your heart, especially when you live that far away and you can’t see them on a regular basis, every opportunity we can get to see them, we make sure we do.

"Me and Depo (Equipment Manager Mark DePasquale) headed over there yesterday to spend some time with the kids and with Mer. It was nice to just hang out at their house for a little bit, help in any way we can.

"It’s great to see them out here, they put a smile on everyone’s face when they’re here, for sure."

2. Know Your Enemy

The Blue Jackets returned home after snapping a four-game losing streak Sunday in Utah with a 3-2 overtime win over the Mammoth, but the big news with the club dropped Monday afternoon.

Columbus announced a coaching change, with former Atlanta Flames winger Rick Bowness taking the helm in place of Dean Evason, who was let go after 127 games in charge. Assistant coach Steve McCarthy was also relieved of his duties.

"This season has been a frustrating one for all of us and the bottom line is we are not performing at a level that meets our expectations," President and General Manager Don Waddell said in a release Monday. "We all share in that responsibility, me included, and while this was not a decision that was made lightly it is one that needed to be made at this time."

"Rick Bowness is a tremendous coach with invaluable experience and knowledge, and he will bring a steadiness to our team at an important juncture in our season," Waddell added. "He is a good communicator whose teams play with structure, are sound defensively and we believe he is the right person to bring out the best in our group."

Bowness inherits a Blue Jackets group that started the week in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 19-19-7 record, coming out of retirement after last serving behind the bench in Winnipeg during the 2023-24 campaign. In two seasons with the Jets, Bowness collected 98 wins, and he was also at the helm of the Dallas Stars side that reached the Stanley Cup Final - losing to Blake Coleman's Tampa Bay Lightning - in 2020.

Defenceman Zach Werenski leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 47 points, second-most among NHL blueliners as of the start of play Monday. He, Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov are tied for the team lead in goals with 16.

Netminder Jet Greaves - who took the loss in the first meeting between these two sides in November - has played the lion's share of the games in goal, posting a 13-12-6 record.

3. Fast Facts

2025-26 Season Series

Tonight's game is the second and final meeting in the season series between Calgary and Columbus, with the Flames holding the upper hand following a 5-1 victory Nov. 5 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Morgan Frost and Blake Coleman gave Calgary a 2-0 lead 92 seconds into the game, Nazem Kadri celebrated his 1,000th NHL game with a goal in the second period, while Adam Klapka and Mikael Backlund added further insurance.

Dustin Wolf's 42 saves that night were a season high, too, while defenceman Yan Kuznetsov registered his first career NHL point in the first encounter between these two clubs.

Did You Know?

Connor Zary comes into tonight's game with goals in back-to-back contests, and since the holiday break, he's doubled his season goal-scoring output from four to eight.

Since Dec. 29, Zary's four tallies are tops on the team, while his five points have him tied with Matt Coronato for the team lead over Calgary's last five games.

4. Champions Club

Tonight's matchup features two sets of former junior hockey teammates that togther shared championship memories.

Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau and Blue Jackets centre Charlie Coyle were teammates with the 2011-12 Saint John Sea Dogs, who captured the QMJHL title for the second year running.

Huberdeau finished third in team scoring with 72 points, despite appearing in only 37 games, while Coyle notched 38 points in 23 regular season appearances before finishing tied for the team lead with 34 points in the post-season, earning QMJHL Playoff MVP honours.

Calgary's Matt Coronato and Columbus' Adam Fantilli, meanwhile, won a USHL Clark Cup together with the Chicago Steel in 2021. Coronato was named the league's Forward of the Year that spring after scoring 48 goals in 51 games.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Matt Coronato

Coronato's game-winner Saturday in Pittsburgh was a thing of beauty, as the Flames winger put home his 12th goal of the season to break a 1-1 tie 42 seconds into the third period.

The goal was Coronato's third game-winner of the season, which puts him in a tie for the team lead in 2025-26.

You could even say the Greenlawn, N.Y. product is starting to develop a bit of a clutch gene at the NHL level, too.

Seven of his 39 career goals - or a shade under 18% of his total tallies - have been game-winners.

Blue Jackets - Dmitri Voronkov

At 6'5", Voronkov is hard to miss on the ice.

And his shots aren't missing, either.

Voronkov notched the overtime winner for Columbus Sunday evening at Utah, the goal put him into a tie for the Blue Jackets' team lead with 16 on the season.

He's well on track to set a new career high for goals this year; the 25-year-old's previous best was 23, a total he reached last year.