Flames set their record with 62 shots, cruise past Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS --The Calgary Flames set their record for shots on goal in a game with 62 and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-0 at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday.

"If you're taking that many shots, which doesn't happen that very often, there was a lot of high quality in them tonight," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "I think that we had in the 40s in Edmonton a couple of games ago (47 in a 5-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday).
"We probably had as many good opportunities and just didn't score, so we just stay the course with how we have to play."

Jacob Markstrom made 23 saves for his NHL-leading sixth shutout, Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, and Johnny Gaudreau had three assists for the Flames (20-12-6).
Calgary has scored 13 goals in the past two games; it defeated the St. Louis Blues 7-1 on Monday, when Tkachuk had five assists.
The Flames record for shots was 59, set in a 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 15, 1977, when they were the Atlanta Flames. Calgary matched the record in a 10-8 win against the Quebec Nordiques on Feb. 23, 1991.
Elvis Merzlikins made 56 saves for the Blue Jackets (18-21-1), who have lost three straight.
"It just wasn't a good game," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "It's not a talent disparity. You've got to push yourself into these games. You had to be ready to compete tonight against a big hockey team. We didn't respond. We did not get into it as hard or heavy as we needed to.
"You don't have to dissect this. They were the better team. They had the puck all night. We were not nearly good enough."

Mikael Backlund gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 4:21 of the first period with his first goal in 19 games.
Calgary defenseman Erik Gudbranson stopped a potential tying goal at 5:29 of the first. Markstrom skated into the right face-off circle and tripped Jakub Voracek on a breakaway. Voracek shot at the open net while falling, but Gudbranson stepped in to block the attempt.
"I don't think we had much going tonight, even when it was 1-0," Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. "From the beginning of the game we didn't create much, didn't have much jump."
Andrew Mangiapane made it 2-0 at 15:14 of the second period for his 100th NHL point (62 goals, 38 assists) in 216 games. He was low in the left circle and tipped a shot by Nikita Zadorov.
Tkachuk extended the lead to 3-0 from the slot with six seconds left in the second. He has a six-game point streak (six goals, nine assists).
Elias Lindholm made it 4-0 30 seconds into third period for his 400th NHL point (153 goals, 247 assists) in 619 games.
"Obviously, that's 60 minutes of really well-played hockey," Markstrom said. "We didn't really give up pretty much anything at all in the third when we're up a couple of goals.
"Thirty seconds into the third we scored, and then [with less than] a minute left in the second we scored. And we had a huge kill when I took a penalty. We had some key blocks there, and I think that set the standard for our game."

Gudbranson's first goal of the season pushed the lead to 5-0 at 6:55, and Tkachuk's 20th of the season made it 6-0 at 7:36.
Gudbranson had not scored in 60 games since Feb. 25.
"I scored against Calgary. I was playing for [the] Ottawa [Senators]," said Gudbranson, who has scored 22 goals in 601 NHL games. "I have so few of them that, yeah, I do remember. It's not my job, but if you can chip in that way it's always nice."
NOTES:Calgary had the most shots against Columbus in a regular-season game. The previous high allowed by the Blue Jackets was 55 by the Florida Panthers on Dec. 4, 2014, in a 4-3 shootout win for Columbus. … Gaudreau has scored 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) during a six-game point streak. … Lindholm has scored four points (two goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. … Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (four points; one goal, three assists). … Mangiapane set an NHL career high with his 19th goal through 38 games; he scored 18 last season 56 games. … Columbus defenseman Adam Boqvist played 18:14 in his return after missing three games in NHL COVID-19 protocol. … Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier did not play after the first period because of an upper-body injury. Larsen said he would be out a "little bit here."