Flames spoil Gaudreau's return with OT win against Blue Jackets

CALGARY -- The Calgary Flames spoiled Johnny Gaudreau's return by recovering for a 4-3 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday.

Gaudreau, who finished with two assists, was playing his first game in Calgary since signing a seven-year, $68.25 million contract ($9.75 million average annual value) with Columbus on July 13.
"It'll probably be easier next time, but I'm sure I'll still get booed," said Gaudreau, who played his first eight NHL seasons with the Flames. "It'll be a lot easier. The first time back is a lot of emotions. [I was] a little nervous before the game started, but I was excited to be back. It was a lot of fun playing here."
Dillon Dube won it for Calgary at 2:25 of overtime with a one-timer from the top the right face-off circle on a 2-on-1. The rush began after Gaudreau lost control of the puck and fell down at the Flames blue line.
"It would've been better if we won it in 60 (minutes) there," Dube said. "It was a huge effort."

Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and two assists, and Nazem Kadri and Walker Duehr scored for the Flames (23-16-9), who have won two straight. Dan Vladar made 22 saves.
"Another character win tonight," Kadri said. "We find a way to hang in there and fight off some adversity. Had a lot of opportunities and for the most part played a pretty solid game. That's always good to see. Around this time of year, everyone starts to understand how we need to play and what our identity is. It's midseason for a reason. You kind of have to kind of fight the dog days of an 82-game schedule, but this is the time where you try to dial in the detail."
Patrik Laine had a goal and two assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 45 saves for the Blue Jackets (14-30-3), who have lost four of five (1-3-1).
"We're a really young group and the guys fought hard tonight," Gaudreau said. "I was really proud of them. Hopefully these are games your team kind of builds around to keep pushing and keep getting better every single day."
Duehr gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 16:18 of the first period with a one-timer from the right circle that went five-hole on Korpisalo.
His goal came after Gaudreau had a chance to give Columbus the early lead at 5:14. Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot after he was hooked on a breakaway, but his attempt went wide of the net.
Kadri made it 2-0 at 1:32 of the second period, scoring from the low slot after the loose puck caromed to him off the skate of Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.

Kirill Marchenko cut it to 2-1 at 9:04 with a wrist shot glove side the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Gaudreau on a power play.
Laine scored another power-play goal 49 seconds later at 9:53 to tie it 2-2. His one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Gaudreau squeezed between the blocker of Vladar and the left post.
Laine has six points (two goals, four assists) during a three-game point streak and 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.
"'Korpi,' he kept us in the game; it could've been 5-0 after the first," Laine said. "He gave us a chance to come back in the game, and I feel like we really started to battle after the first. Our power play got a couple goals to get us going. I feel we battled pretty hard tonight."
Mangiapane responded to put the Flames back in front 3-2 at 16:17 with a turnaround shot from the low slot.
Boone Jenner tied it 3-3 at 4:34 of the third period when he elected to shoot from the left circle on a 2-on-1 with Gaudreau, who then hit the post with a redirection of Andrew Peeke's shot at 9:22.
"It was a weird game," Gaudreau said. "Penalty shot, didn't expect that and missed. Then I get a little tip in the third to get the lead and it hits the post and bounces out. You can only laugh at that type of stuff. But it was awesome. I'm really happy about how our guys played tonight."

NOTES:Gaudreau, who was selected by Calgary in the fourth round (No. 104) of the 2011 NHL Draft, had 609 points (210 goals, 399 assists) in 602 games with the Flames from 2014-22. … Calgary defenseman Chris Tanev left the game at 8:20 of the first period after sustaining an apparent upper-body injury in a collision with Columbus forward Eric Robinson. There was no update postgame.