Johnson perfect in shutout win over Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS, OH -- Chad Johnson kept the cannon quiet.

Johnson stopped all 34 shots, and Troy Brouwer scored the game-winner to lift the Calgary Flames to a 2-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.

"Everybody gets pretty startled when they hear that thing go off," Johnson said. "It's a pretty loud boom. They've put up some goals this year for sure and that thing's gone off a lot. But the win is the most important. The shutout is the icing on the cake. Just happy to get the win and move on."

Micheal Ferland also scored for the Flames, who have won two of the first three games of a season-high six-game road trip.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for the Blue Jackets.

"That's a tough team," Johnson said. "They've played some really good hockey. They come hard. For us, we just wanted to come in here and stick to our system, really just get pucks in deep and wait for our opportunities and we did that and capitalized on the chances we had. We grinded it out. That's your prototypical road game. It was good that we got the win."

Brouwer scored the eventual game-winner in the second period with his first goal in 10 games.

He picked off a clearing attempt by Seth Jones and fed Kris Versteeg, who stickhandled around Jones before firing a return pass on his through the crease that Brouwer tapped by Bobrovsky to put the Flames up 1-0 at 6:35 of the second.

"When I intercepted the puck in the middle of the ice all I heard was [Versteeg] screaming at me to make it a 3-on-2," Brouwer said. "The kid's got a lot more skill than I do. He did a great job … I think I know the move he did but I was kind of busy driving the net … he put it through his legs and a nice backdoor pass. All I had to do was put my stick on the ice."

Brouwer's goal came after Johnson stopped Nick Foligno's redirect and subsequent whacks 25 seconds into Matthew Tkachuk's double minor for high sticking, and before Johnson made a glove save on Cam Atkinson's breakaway shot -- his 20th save of the game -- to keep Calgary up 1-0.

"Just looking at how calm and composed he was…it's not really the saves that you get at the end of games, but the big-time and crucial moments and that breakaway save, how composed he was and how easy he made it look, that was a real big save at a crucial moment in the game for us," Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan said.

Ferland doubled the lead 6:25 into the third. Dennis Wideman poked the puck away from Markus Hannikainen at Columbus' blue line to Ferland, who snapped a shot past Bobrovsky's glove to put Calgary up 2-0.

The cushion wasn't needed.

Johnson made nine saves in the third period, including four in the final 1:20 to deny Foligno, Boone Jenner, and Zach Werenski twice, to preserve his second shutout of the season.

"I thought they came pretty hard there," he said. "We knew that they were going to throw everything at the net and there were going to be some scrums there. There were times where we were on our heels but we still stuck together and battled as a group. I saw pucks when I needed to.

"Guys did a good job of that and clearing rebounds. The shot clock looked like what it did but I thought we battled, and they threw everything at the net as well. It was a good win, I thought, overall."

NOTES: Johnson is 5-0-0 in his career against the Blue Jackets. He's beaten them as a member of the Flames, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders and Boston Bruins. Brouwer also had a game-high four blocked shots. Versteeg returned to the line-up after missing nine games because of a groin injury. Johnson started after Brian Elliott played against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. Defenceman Jyrki Jokipakka and forward Hunter Shinkaruk were scratched for Calgary. Forward Linden Vey was assigned to Stockton of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.

UP NEXT: The Flames visit the Bruins at TD Center on Friday (5:30 PM MT; SNW, SN960).