Flames beat the Blue Jackets 3-0 following a tribute to the late Gaudreau brothers

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl scored power-play goals and Calgary beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 Tuesday night after the Flames honored the late Johnny Gaudreau with a pregame tribute.

Dan Vladar had a 16-save shutout, Yegor Sharangovich scored into an empty net and Mikael Backlund had two assists for Calgary.

Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 19 of 21 shots.

Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were honored before the game with the Gaudreau family in attendance. Players on both teams had the name Gaudreau and Johnny’s No. 13 on their pregame jerseys.

The brothers were struck by a vehicle and killed while cycling together Aug. 29 in New Jersey.

Johnny Gaudreau played eight seasons with the the Flames before playing two seasons with Columbus. His father, Gus, skated with the Flames on Monday and Tuesday.

The Saddledome chanted “Johnny” during the tribute and “Johnny Hockey” after the Flames took a 2-0 lead late in the third.

Takeaways

Blue Jackets: Didn’t make Vladar work hard enough with 16 shots — just three in the second period — and few chances generated from close range. Took four penalties to Calgary’s one.

Flames: Recovered quicker than the Blue Jackets from the game’s emotional start. Played disciplined with one penalty and spent more sustained time in the offensive zone than Columbus.

Key moment

Andersson, who was a close friend of Gaudreau’s, pointed to his family seated in a Saddledome box after scoring for the Flames.

Key stat

The Flames extended their home win streak to six games for the first time since 2021-22, when they matched the franchise record of 11 games, which was first accomplished in 2015-16.

Up next

The Blue Jackets travel to Edmonton to take on the Oilers on Thursday, while the Flames host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Associated Press