Newly acquired Montreal Canadiens Tyler Toffoli scored on his debut for the Flames to help Calgary to a 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, extending the season-high winning streak to seven games. .
Erik Gudbranson, Elias Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuk, Dillon Dube and Adam Ruzicka also scored for Calgary (27-13-6), which edge Vegas in first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Golden Knights. The Flames also have two games in hand.
Adam Boqvist and Zach Werenski scored for Columbus (23-23-1), which entered the game on a three-game winning streak and won five in a row on the road. The Blue Jackets wrap up their five-game road trip in Chicago on Thursday.
In his first start in 39 days and his first home appearance this season, rookie Flames goaltender Dan Vladar made 18 saves to improve to 7-3-1.
At the other end, Elvis Merzlikins made his fifth consecutive start for the Blue Jackets. Although he’s less busy than three weeks ago in Columbus when he was peppered with 62 shots in a 6-0 loss to Calgary, he still faced 41 shots. His record drops to 17-13-1.
