Blue Jackets earn rare road win against Iginla-less Flames

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Columbus Blue Jackets wouldn't be the NHL's lowest scoring team if they played the Calgary Flames more often.

The Blue Jackets, one of the NHL's worst road teams, took advantage of the Flames' porous own-zone efforts in their first game without Jarome Iginla, and skated to a 6-4 victory over at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night.

A week earlier, the Blue Jackets beat the Flames 5-1 at home.

"Very frustrating," said Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who was minus-4. "At times we played well, and in the third period, when we were down, we had a little push, but we turned pucks over.

"Usually chances like that come off turnovers because guys are going the other way," Bouwmeester said. "It's the transition, and a lot of teams just feed off it because that's what they're looking for. The chances they got were very good chances and they put them in the back of our net."

Two days after trading the face of the franchise, their captain and all-time leading scorer, the Flames talked about regrouping.

It didn't happen.

Mark Letestu, Vinny Prospal, Matt Calvert, Derrick Brassard, Ryan Johansen and R.J. Umberger scored for the Blue Jackets, while goalie Steve Mason won for the third time this season against a lifeless Flames team before a solemn crowd.

"To be quite honest, you tell me if the place was rocking before the game today. It was pretty dead out there," Flames center Matt Stajan said. "And that's something we have to do as a team, create energy in this building, because it was quiet and it's on us to get the crowd into it. We took a while to get going.

"We have to create energy in our own building. We've got great fans and when this place is rocking, it's going and we feed off that. We had that in the second when (Brian McGrattan) got that goal, but we've got to have that from the start."

The Blue Jackets happily took advantage.

"It's definitely different," Calvert said of facing a Flames team without Iginla. "They're missing their leader and their best player. I watched him a lot being from out west. It's a change for the organization. Columbus went through the same thing last year with Rick Nash.

"It's a change but it's all about how they deal with it. I thought they were a solid team and gave us a good effort."

The Blue Jackets, who won on the road for just the fourth time this season, put in a better effort.

"We had the two-goal lead and then they'd keep coming back and then we'd restore it," Mason said. "For our guys to keep bouncing back and drive forward was huge."

Mikael Backlund, Dennis Wideman and Curtis Glencross scored for the Flames, who saw their home-ice winning streak snapped at eight games.

Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was pulled after the second period. He gave up five goals, four during a second period in which he faced only eight shots.

Backup Joey MacDonald stopped four shots in relief.

NOTES: With the trade of Iginla, who was captain of the team since the 2003-04 season, the Flames have decided to go without a captain through the season, with Bouwmeester, Glencross, Mike Cammalleri and Mark Giordano donning an "A" every game. "I just told them I wanted to see them perform, to keep them putting their leadership out there every day whether it's in the room or on the ice with younger players and they were all good with this," coach Bob Hartley said. ... Blue Jackets goalie Mason started for the first time since March 5, a game he was pulled after surrendering three goals in the first 21 minutes. Sergei Bobrovsky finished that game and started 11 consecutive outings afterward ... The Blue Jackets are hoping to stay within striking distance of a playoff spot, but must improve their road record to do so. They entered the game with only one road win in the last seven games and only three in 14 outings. ... Columbus, which just got defenseman James Wisniewski back into the lineup, saw defenseman Tim Erixon leave the game with an "upper-body" injury.