Jay Bouwmeester scored his first goal as a Flame, Jarome Iginla had a goal and two assists, and Calgary overcame early penalty trouble to run away from the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 on Tuesday at the Saddledome.
Daymond Langkow, Curtis Glencross, Dion Phaneuf and Fredrik Sjostrom also scored — the latter giving the balanced Flames their sixth different goal scorer when he potted his first in a Calgary uniform late in the third period.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 27 saves for the Flames (6-2-1), who avenged a 2-1 defeat a week ago in Columbus by snapping the Blue Jackets' three-game winning streak.
"It's been a fun start," Iginla said. "It's still been a really enjoyable October. As a team, it feels like we have a lot of good things going and it feels like we can still get better."
The Flames played with fire by handing Columbus seven power-play opportunities — including a pair of 5-on-3s — over the first two periods. Derick Brassard converted one of those two-man advantages and set up Jakub Voracek's 5-on-4 goal 28 seconds later to tie the game at 3-3 early in the second.
But Phaneuf put Calgary ahead for good with a coast-to-coast effort later in the period, and the Flames didn't give up any new power-play chances in the final frame.
René Bourque picked up one of his two secondary assists on the Phaneuf goal, increase Bourque's team-leading points total to 11.
Rick Nash scored a short-handed goal in the first period for Columbus (5-2-0). Goalie Steve Mason had an off night, allowing all six Flames goals on 22 shots.
"He struggled," said Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock. "He really struggled tonight."
Calgary will remain home to face the Edmonton Oilers on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 10 p.m. ET).
Bouwmeester chimes in
Calgary came out flying in its rematch with Columbus, potting the first two goals of the game in less than four minutes.
On the first one, ex-Flame Kristian Huselius coughed the puck up near his own blue-line, Bouwmeester threw it at the net and Langkow converted the rebound.
Then, when Glencross tried a cross-crease feed to Craig Conroy, the puck hit defenceman Marc Methot and went in, giving Glencross his third goal in as many games.
A three-goal lead looked like a strong possibility when the Jackets took two penalties in close succession — normally a fatal move against the NHL's second-ranked power play. But with the first infraction about to expire, Nash outhustled a slothful Phaneuf to a loose puck and deked out Kiprusoff on the breakaway.
Bouwmeester's first Flames goal came in a 4-on-4 situation. Seeing a scramble in the goalmouth, the big defenceman swooped in and banged home the loose puck to restore the two-goal lead.
The Flames returned the 5-on-3 favour at the start of the second period and Columbus capitalized in a big way, tying the game on the Brassard and Voracek goals.
Iginla plays 'best game'
Phaneuf went for a long skate to restore Calgary's lead. Winding up behind his own net, the defenceman threaded his way untouched into the Columbus slot and surprised Mason with a quick snap shot for his team-high fifth goal of the season.
"He just got a quick release off mid-stride and the puck kinda caught me off-guard a bit," said Mason. "You look at that, we just tied the game up and then you let a goal in like that. It really takes a lot of energy out of the team."
The Flames seemed intent on negating that effort when they handed the visitors another 5-on-3 advantage late in the second. This one lasted nearly a full two minutes, but Calgary managed to kill it off.
Iginla gave the Flames some insurance with seven minutes left in the game, keeping on a 2-on-1 with Olli Jokinen and zipping one just under the crossbar. After recording four points in his first eight games, the captain now has seven points — third-most on the team.
"I look at the shots and the quality scoring chances he had and tonight was his best game," said Flames coach Brent Sutter.
Sjostrom capped the scoring with a highlight-reel effort. His drive to the net halted by the Columbus defence, the forward circled away from the net and fired one just inside the far post.
The move impressed Iginla.
"That was sick, eh? That was probably one of the best goals of the year so far."
