EDMONTON, Alberta -- The best start in franchise history has the Columbus Blue Jackets hanging out with the big boys in the Metropolitan Division.

Cam Atkinson and Matt Calvert scored 1:36 apart in the third period and Columbus prevailed 3-1 over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday for its seventh straight victory.

Former Oiler Sam Gagner also scored for the Blue Jackets (18-5-4), who trail co-leaders Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers by one point while leading Washington and Philadelphia by one in the crowded division. Columbus also improved its NHL-best road record to 8-2-3.

"It was nice," said Gagner, who finished with a goal and an assist. "I thought we took a little while to get going, but once we started playing, I thought we had a good second half of the game and (Sergei Bobrovsky) played great for us again."

Tyler Pitlick scored for the Oilers (15-12-5), who are 3-4-4 in their last 11 games.

"I thought we had a good first and then I don't know what happened," Edmonton winger Jordan Eberle said. "We lost some momentum on our power play to start the second and they kind of just took over.

"We knew coming in that they are a good team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. When they get going, they are a tough team to stop. We needed to find a way to do that, and we didn't."

Pitlick's seventh goal of the season gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead 10:06 into the first period, and the Oilers thought they had a second when a shot off Zack Kassian's leg went past Bobrovsky a few minutes later, but the goal was called back because of goaltender interference.

Edmonton lost its timeout and coach's challenge trying to get the call overturned, which would come back to haunt them in the second.

So would their special teams.

Given a four-minute power play late in the first period after the referees failed to see that it was actually Milan Lucic's high stick that clipped teammate Connor McDavid in the mouth, the Oilers couldn't find a way to double their lead.

"Everybody knows how important it was for us, it was huge," Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (33 saves) said of the penalty kill. "We were down 1-0 and if it's 2-0 it's a different game. We stayed focused and guys did a great job."

None of the Blue Jackets wanted to let the game get away from them on a phantom call, so killing it off gave the bench a big lift.

"The kills were really important," Gagner said. "It was obviously a tough call, I don't think the ref saw what happened. But for us to kill the four minutes off was huge for us, it gave us huge momentum and I thought we did a good job after that."

He won't get any argument from Oilers coach Todd McLellan.

"I thought (the momentum change) happened halfway through the second after our power play opportunities that didn't go in," he said. "The wheel started to turn then. They got a little energy off some of our turnovers and the game was different from then on."

The Blue Jackets' power play took over from there, starting with the Gagner goal at 7:59 of the second. He used his skate to redirect a puck past Cam Talbot at 7:59 of the second. It was questionable whether he made a kicking motion, but Edmonton was powerless to launch an appeal.

The NHL's No.1 power play struck again in the third when Atkinson scored on the man advantage at 7:10.

"When we don't score on the power play and they get a couple, it's pretty deflating," McLellan said. "It took a lot of life out of our team."

It showed.

The Oilers, playing their 10th game in 17 days, had nothing left in the third -- they didn't record a shot in the first 13 minutes of the period. To their credit, though, they weren't blaming the schedule.

"We had enough time yesterday to rest and get prepared," McLellan said. "I thought we could have pushed a little bit longer. But coming from behind on a team like that, a lot of teams in the league haven't been able to do that. And you can put us on the list as well."

NOTES: Blue Jackets LW Nick Foligno returned to the lineup after missing two games with a stomach disorder. ... The Oilers, who've played 23 games in the last 43 days, already played five more games than Columbus this season. ... Edmonton D Brandon Davidson made his return after missing the last 30 games with a shoulder injury. His arrival comes a day after the Oilers announced that D Darnell Nurse will miss three months after surgery to repair bone and ligament damage in his ankle. ...Columbus RW Sam Gagner, who spent the end of last season in the minors after clearing waivers, is on pace for the best season of his career with 21 points in his first 26 games.