COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- It's not unusual for Jody Shelley to spend as much time in the penalty box as he does on the ice. Scoring twice is another story.
Shelley recorded his first career two-goal game and the Columbus Blue Jackets used superb special teams to defeat the Calgary Flames, 4-3.
The NHL leader last season with 249 penalty minutes, Shelley recorded only 5:31 of ice time in the game. He spent five minutes in the box following a first-period fight with Krzysztof Oliwa.
Despite his lack of ice time, the fourth-line winger tied it twice, making it 1-1 on the power play with 5:38 left in the first period and 2-2 with 10:50 remaining in the second.
"We came back with two huge goals from Jody Shelley. Did I say that?" joked goaltender Marc Denis, who made 42 saves. "That's right - two huge goals by Jody Shelley, and we took it over from there and played a pretty solid third period."
In his third NHL season, the 6-4, 225-pound Shelley began the day with only four goals in 133 career games. His only other two-point game came December 14, 2002 against Detroit.
"To score two goals, that is pretty awesome," said Shelley, who began the game with no front teeth and a bruise under his left eye. "I was pretty confident."
Steven Reinprecht opened the scoring 2:41 into the game for the Flames before Shelley scored his first goal since March 13, deflecting Scott LaChance's point shot through goalie Jamie McLennan's legs.
It was the first of three power-play goals for the Jackets, who began the day 25th in the league with the man advantage at 12.9 percent. It took the low-scoring line of Shelley, Lasse Pirjeta and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre to get things going.
"You know your power play is struggling at times when you come with Grand-Pierre, Shelley and Pirjeta to clean it up," Jackets coach Doug MacLean said. "And they scored a huge goal to get us back in the game."
Jarome Iginla gave Calgary its second lead 6:50 into the second, but Shelley answered 2:20 later. Pirjeta backhanded a pass from behind the net to Shelley, who put a quick backhander by McLennan.
Shelley immediately broke out in a smile, stunned at scoring twice.
"He does all the dirty work out there, and he busts his butt every night, so it's good to see him get a couple and be rewarded out there," Columbus winger Geoff Sanderson said.
Later in the second period, the power play took over. Andrew Cassels scored his first goal of the season off a rebound in front to make it 3-2 with 9:34 left and Sanderson beat Dany Sabourin with a slap shot just 55 seconds later.
"It's nice to get back on track and it was such a big part of the game today," Cassels said. "You have to win those special team battles."
Columbus started the day fourth in the league in penalty-killing, allowing only five goals in 42 chances, and held Calgary scoreless in all five of its opportunities. The Jackets' power play helped make it a complete effort by the special teams.
"We just picked up where we left off," Denis said of the penalty-killing unit. "Our power play, what else can you say about it? We got three big goals tonight. It took Jody Shelley to get it going, but we took over with our power play."
The Flames' lack of discipline helped. They were called for six minor penalties in the second period, two of which resulted in Columbus goals.
"Penalty after penalty after penalty, which is not only goals, but gives a team momentum," said Iginla, Calgary's captain. "And that's what we did tonight."
The Flames closed within a goal 1:54 into the third period when defenseman Andrew Ference scored his first of the season, but their losing streak reached a season-high three games. Coach Darryl Sutter put the blame on his goaltending.
"We couldn't make a save in the second period, and it cost us the game," he said.
Sutter pulled McLennan in favor of Sabourin immediately following Cassels' goal.
Denis had no such trouble, even though Columbus allowed a season-high 45 shots, 18 in the first period. The Jackets managed only 28.
"That was our game plan, to generate more shots," Sutter said. "(Denis) probably got to see a lot of them. At the same time, that's what we wanted to do. He was solid; there weren't many rebounds. He covered a lot of pucks for them."
