The Calgary Flames went into scenic Ohio to visit the Columbus Blue Jackets for a Friday matinee game. In an outing where it was natural to be curious what the mood would be like – given it was the first meeting of these two clubs since the tragic passings of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau – the game ended up being surprisingly feisty.

In a game that featured three fights and a lot of chippy play, the Flames dropped their third consecutive game via a 5-2 loss to Columbus.

The Flames got off to an energetic start, but midway through the first period Nazem Kadri was nabbed for a holding call on Damon Severson. While the Blue Jackets didn’t technically score during Kadri’s penalty, Adam Fantilli deflected an Ivan Provorov shot just as Kadri’s penalty expired, giving Columbus a 1-0 lead.

The Flames had some offensive zone pressure going after Columbus scored. But Kadri made an ill-timed pass that went wide of its intended recipient at the offensive blueline. Columbus recovered the puck and went in on a three-on-one rush against Daniil Miromanov. Kent Johnson called his own number and fired a shot past Dustin Wolf to give Columbus a 2-0 lead.

First period shots were 16-10 Blue Jackets. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 11-7 Blue Jackets (high-danger chances were 5-5).

Just shy of five minutes into the second period, Columbus scored another one. This time, Wolf couldn’t quite connect on a rim-around pass and the puck was intercepted by a Columbus attacker. Kirill Marchenko went in on Wolf and the netminder stayed with him, steering him away from the net… but Marchenko threw the puck past Wolf into the net-front area, and Zach Werenski fired it into the net, past Miromanov (who was attempting to block the shot) to give the home side a 3-0 lead.

Late in the period, though, some really nice offensive zone puck movement got the Flames on the board. Connor Zary fed the puck to a pinching Kevin Bahl, who flung the puck across the zone to a pinching Rasmus Andersson. Andersson’s shot was stopped by Elvis Merzlikins, but the rebound went to Blake Coleman in the net-front area, and he jammed it into the net to cut the Blue Jackets’ lead to 3-1.

Second period shots were 9-8 Blue Jackets. Five-on-five scoring chances were 7-4 Flames (high-danger chances were 3-1 Flames).

The Flames were granted an early power play in the third period after Merzlikins got into a scrap with MacKenzie Weegar and was given a roughing minor. But the Flames couldn’t cash in on that power play and, coming out of the box, Fantilli scored on a two-on-one rush with Bahl defending. That restored Columbus’ three goal lead, at 4-1.

On a later power play the Flames got a little closer, as Kadri scored off a nice rush play to cut the home team’s lead to 4-2.

But that’s as close as the Flames managed to get. They pulled Wolf for the extra attacker, but Marchenko scored on the empty net to give Columbus a 5-2 victory.

Third period shots were 11-9 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 10-7 Flames (high-danger chances were 5-2 Flames).

The Flames’ execution just wasn’t where it needed to be. They made poor decisions with the puck, often turning the puck over and creating Columbus scoring chances along the way. They didn’t defend terribly well, especially on odd-man rushes. And while the Flames battled hard, their lack of execution in all three zones was why they left Nationwide Arena empty-handed.

Weegar played the most of any Flames skater and led the team in shots. He was consistently noticeable for positive reasons, as you would hope one of the team’s leaders would be.

Honourable mention to Wolf, who allowed four goals but aside from the Werenski goal (that came off Wolf’s own turnover) there’s not much he could be blamed for in this outing.

The Flames had a power play early in the third period and a chance to pull themselves within a goal of Columbus. Not only did they not score, but to add insult to injury Columbus scored on an odd-man rush immediately after the power play ended… with the player serving the penalty scoring on the Flames after coming out of the penalty box. Oof.

Justin Kirkland left the game after the first period with a lower body injury.

Martin Pospisil fought Jake Christiansen in the second period. (They were briefly teammates in 2019-20 with the Stockton Heat.) Pospisil fought again later in the period, tussling with Mathieu Olivier after a hard hit along the boards on Joel Hanley. Then later in the same period, Ryan Lomberg fought with Olivier.

The Flames (12-8-4) are headed to Pittsburgh for a Saturday evening game that’ll close out their four game road trip.