e got to make sure we repeat a lot of that performance tomorrow night and find a way to score a bit

CALGARY Chicago Blackhawks Hoodies Authentic , Alberta (AP) — In the first two periods, the Columbus Blue Jackets hit three goal posts.It was that kind of night.Johnny Gaudreau scored his team-leading 35th goal and Michael Frolik added a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames beat Columbus 4-2 on Tuesday.“We’re finding ways to not score, I guess. It’s frustrating, but you’ve got to keep going and have the faith that it’s going to break,” Blue Jackets forward Matt Duchene said. “Today we lost some ground, but we’re still in a (playoff) spot.”David Rittich made 31 saves to win his fourth start in a row. Andrew Mangiapane and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for the Flames, and Austin Czarnik had two assists.Oliver Bjorkstrand and defenseman Zach Werenski scored for Columbus. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots.“They had a push, for sure. They’re a desperate team. A really big, strong team that plays well,” Calgary captain Mark Giordano said. “Their defensemen get in the rush, so it was an important two points for us tonight and I thought we dug deep.”The Flames were the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot Sunday.With nine games remaining in the regular season, their objective is staying atop the Pacific Division ahead of San Jose. Calgary opened a three-point lead over the idle Sharks Chicago Blackhawks Hats Authentic , who clinched a playoff berth Tuesday when the Minnesota Wild lost to Colorado.“It’s nine games to the end, we’ve got three points up, so every single point is important,” Rittich said. “We want to finish first.”Columbus is clinging to the second Eastern Conference wild-card slot by one point after Montreal’s 3-1 victory in Philadelphia.Blue Jackets shooters hit the post three times in the first 40 minutes, prompting Rittich to give his posts a kiss during the game.“Three goal posts,” Duchene lamented. “We’re playing good hockey. Just not getting the offense when we need it.”Mangiapane scored late in the first period and Frolik 35 seconds into the second to give the Flames an early 3-1 cushion.Bjorkstrand’s power-play goal at 5:28 of the third pulled the Blue Jackets within a goal. His wrist shot from the faceoff circle rolled up and over Rittich’s left shoulder.Rittich, however, stymied a second man-advantage midway through the period after Calgary was called for delay of game.“There was a few I thought he made look easy that were difficult saves,” Giordano said. “That was huge for us.”Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin blocked a shot with the back of his head midway through the second period. He left the game, but returned for the third.Rittich certainly got help from the goal posts and his teammates, but he also didn’t give up rebounds to Columbus for follow-up chances.“There wasn’t much laying around,” Calgary coach Bill Peters said. “I thought he was real tidy.”Frolik scored Calgary’s third goal on a neutral-zone pass from defenseman T.J. Brodie. Frolik eluded Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones to beat Bobrovsky.Calgary’s Garnet Hathaway and Blue Jackets defenseman Adam McQuaid collided behind the play a minute later and traded punches.Lukas Sedlak and Ryan Dzingel both shot the puck off Rittich’s left post for the Blue Jackets during the last three minutes of the first period.But Calgary led 2-1 on Mangiapane’s goal with the clock ticking down. He had half an open net to score with a backhand when Bobrovsky lost track of Mark Jankowski’s pass through traffic.Gaudreau pulled the Flames even at 12:44. From the behind the goal line Custom Chicago Blackhawks Jerseys , Derek Ryan threw the puck to Gaudreau in the high slot for the winger to score.Werenski made the most of a neutral-zone turnover by Calgary for the game’s first goal. The defenseman hustled the puck into the offensive zone and beat Rittich with a wrist shot at 10:25.NOTES: Flames center Sean Monahan (illness) and winger Sam Bennett (upper body) were scratched for a second straight game. … Giordano tied Robyn Regehr for the second-most games played for Calgary (826). … With an assist, Giordano has five in his past five games.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.Flames: Host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Anaheim Ducks are celebrating their 25th anniversary this season, but it’s been even longer since the Detroit Red Wings went winless in their first three games.The Ducks will have a chance to keep Detroit without a victory when they host the Red Wings in their home opener Monday night at Honda Center.Detroit (0-1-1) hasn’t gone without a win through its first three games since the 1991-92 season. The Red Wings regrouped to post the top record in the Campbell Conference that year.Article continues below ...The Ducks will try to start 3-0-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season, which culminated with their only Stanley Cup title.Both teams are dealing with injuries to some of their most veteran players.Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf left in the third period of a 1-0 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night because of a lower-body injury and his status for Monday’s game was unknown as of Sunday afternoon.He joins a long list of injured veteran forwards for the Ducks. Corey Perry had knee surgery late last month and is out for five months. Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves have not returned to action as they recover from surgeries, and Ondrej Kase is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.Anaheim has been forced to insert four rookie forwards into the lineup, but they are holding their own so far.Max Comtois scored in both wins, becoming the first Anaheim rookie to score in his first two games to start a season.“He’s definitely brought a lot of energy,” said Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, who assisted on Comtois’ goal on Saturday night. “All of our young players have been expected to make a big impact on our team early and I think they’ve done a great job of that.”Adam Henrique filled Getzlaf’s spot as the top line center during practice Sunday with Rickard Rakell and rookie Troy Terry on his wings.Another rookie, Sam Steel, centered the second line with Comtois and Jakob Silfverberg on his wings.The Red Wings will be without veteran defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall, both of whom are nursing upper-body injuries that have delayed the start of their seasons.Detroit also lost defenseman Trevor Daley to an upper body injury in the first period in a 4-2 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night and he will miss Monday’s game. The Red Wings played the remainder of the game with five defensemen www.officialavalanche.com , including three rookies.“All we can do is focus on making sure that we’re getting better here, and I thought again there was a lot of things we did good,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We’ve got to make sure we repeat a lot of that performance tomorrow night and find a way to score a bit more.”Kronwall, 37, was second on the team in scoring among defenseman last season with 27 points (four goals, 23 assists). He’s in his 14th season with Detroit.Ericsson, 34, is in his 11th season with the Red Wings.Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard is expected to start after former Anaheim goalie Jonathan Bernier played against the Kings on Sunday.Howard is 10-6-2 in his career against the Ducks with a .925 save percentage and 2.28 goals-against average. He has three shutouts against Anaheim, which matches the most against any team.Ducks goalie John Gibson is off to a hot start with two goals allowed in the first two games. He’s 4-3-0 in his career against the Red Wings with a .917 save percentage and 2.20 GAA