CALGARY [url=http://www.officialsabres.com/authentic-adidas-jack-eichel-jersey]http:/... , 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 [url=http://www.officialflames.com/authentic-adidas-sean-monahan-jersey]http:... , 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, 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 [url=http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-mikkel-boedker-jersey]M... Boedker Jersey Womens[/url] , 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 [url=http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-patrick-roy-jersey]htt... , 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. DENVER (AP) — Dustin Brown got the jump on a Colorado line change ahead of his game-winning shot.Brown scored on a breakaway 56 seconds into overtime and the Los Angeles Kings withstood a late comeback attempt by Colorado and beat the Avalanche 3-2 on Monday night.“The puck got kicked into our zone,” Brown said. “They were trying to get a change. I was coming out of the blue-line door — so that’s 30 or 40 feet for them to change, and I got in behind them.”Brown gathered in a pass from Jake Muzzin in the Avalanche zone and skated between the circles before sending a wrist shot past the stick of goalie Semyon Varlamov for the winner.Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Brown beat Colorado skaters into their zone.“You can’t hide in 3-on-3, so Mikko (Rantanen) changes and their guy is behind him,” Bednar said. “And then we were late coming on and it’s in the back of our net. You can’t let guys get in behind you 3-on-3 or they’re going to score. That’s it.”Sean Walker and Drew Doughty also scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick had 22 saves and earned his 299th career win. He has 17 wins in 24 career games against the Avalanche.Nathan MacKinnon and Carl Soderberg scored for Colorado, which lost its fifth straight.With an extra attacker on the ice in place of their goalie, the Avalanche evened the score at 2-2 at 18:40 of the third period on a goal by Soderberg. Tyson Barrie’s shot from the point went off Soderberg’s skate and into the net past Quick. The outcome for Colorado mirrored its overtime loss Saturday to Chicago.“It’s unfortunate because it’s so quick — bang [url=http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-samuel-girard-jersey]W... Samuel Girard Jersey[/url] , bang — in overtime,” Erik Johnson said after Colorado fell to 1-8 in overtime games this season. “We clawed our way back so hard, it’s tough to swallow. It was looking like we weren’t going to come up with anything, so we need those two points. We’ll take the single one right now, but it certainly stinks not to get that extra one.”Trailing 2-0, the Avalanche cut the deficit in half when MacKinnon finished a 2-on-1 break with a shot from in front that beat Quick. Rantanen set him up with a cross-ice pass that allowed MacKinnon to flick the puck over Quick’s glove.Walker, who had an apparent first-period goal negated by a goalie interference call, extended the Kings’ lead with a wraparound shot that got past Varlamov at 12:58 of the second period. It was the first NHL goal for Walker [url=http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-semyon-varlamov-jersey... Varlamov Jersey[/url] , who got the inside edge on Rantanen and stuffed the puck into the net through a narrow opening before Varlamov could get to the side and close it.“It was a roller coaster,” Walker said. “Pretty high and then pretty low. And then luckily, I got the other one. You want to get your first one out of the way.”With the Kings on the power play, Doughty opened the scoring with a slap shot from the top of the right circle 22 seconds into the second period. Doughty scored off a feed from Tyler Toffoli.NOTES: At 5:40 of the first, the Kings had an apparent goal by Walker negated by goalie interference. Matt Luff was called for the infraction as he backed into goalie Semyon Varlamov at the same time Walker took his shot. … Colorado’s Tyson Barrie is one shy of tying John-Michael Liles (275) for most points by a defenseman in Avalanche franchise history. … The Kings have assigned F Michael Amadio to Ontario of the American Hockey League.UP NEXTKings: Complete back-to-back set at Las Vegas on Tuesday.Avalanche: Host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.