The Calgary Flames played a rematch on Saturday night.
On their last trip to Vancouver, the Canucks burned the Flames 7-1. It’s a result that guests have not forgotten, said Matthew Tkachuk.
“I thought we were pretty embarrassed tonight and this is our last game of the regular season here at this rink, so we’ve done a crack at it to bring it back,” the feisty forward said after Calgary Vancouver scored a decisive 5 – 2 losses on Saturday.
The Flames were the dominant side of the first puck drop and jumped after the first break to a 3-0 lead.
Tkachuk scored one goal in two assists in the win, while Rasmus Andersson added one of each. Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm and Johnny Gaudreau also shot for the Flames (38-16-8).
“I do not know if it’s a statement game or not, but I know we obviously talked about what happened last time we were here and that little picture, we all wanted to start the game really well and that is what we did. ”Andersson said. “We just focused on ourselves and we did what we could and in the end we played a good game.”
The Canucks (30-26-7) responded with goals from Matthew Highmore and Brock Boeser.
Dan Vladar made 23 saves for a Flames team that lost 1-0 in overtime to the Buffalo Sabers in Calgary on Friday.
Despite playing their second game in two days, the Flames overcame the home team early and often, beating Vancouver 44-25 to improve on 7-4-1 in the second half of the playoffs this season.
Calgary head coach Darryl Sutter changed his lines on Saturday and the result fell.
“We are a team that has to kill players. If we try to make fancy games and long games, that does not work for our team,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons why we changed lines. There are too many 70-footers in home runs. You have to touch all the basics. Tonight we made more people do it.
Thatcher Demko stopped 25-of-29 shots for the Canucks before being replaced by Jaroslav Halak to begin the third period. Halak made 14 saves in relief.
Vancouver has now lost four of five, all at home, and the team’s faint playoff hopes are slipping away.
Closing first periods were a recurring theme everywhere and coach Bruce Boudreau is not sure what to do to resolve the situation.
“We’ve been fighting for our lives for three and a half months and now all of a sudden make it easy for the opposition, whether it’s Detroit, whoever, who came out, Washington in the first period, and really took us, that is self-determination, “he said. “I have no answer. I would like to sit here and say I have the answer but I do not have the answer right now.
Vancouver got a solid opportunity late in the game when Erik Gudbranson was called up to exclude Tyler Motte as he ran into the Calgary net with less than three minutes left on the game clock.
The Canucks were quick to respond, with Boeser playing a rebound into the net of inside tackles just eight seconds into power.
Boeser’s 18th goal of the season reduced Vancouver’s deficit to 5-2.
The Canucks came in with 7:37 in the third in place, with Highmore scoring in a long bomb by Juho Lammikko to make it 5-1.
Vancouver replaced Demko with Halak to start third. It was Halak’s first appearance since February 28.
“I wanted to save Demmer,” Boudreau said of the goalkeeper exchange. “The poor bugger is in there, against the outbreak after the outbreak. And he does not deserve it. He is too good for us. “
Calgary stormed their lead to 5-0 with a power-play goal 6:28 into the final frame after Boeser was called up for high-stakes on Gaudreau.
With 30 seconds left in the man advantage, Tkachuk shot a pass to Gaudreau in the opposite faceoff circle and Johnny Hockey shot a wrist in the past Halak for his 28th goal of the season.
Both the Flames and the Canucks went 1 for 2 in the Power Play Saturday.
The Canucks came in second with renewed energy and put the visitors out 5-0 over the first three minutes, but the Flames took advantage of their first chance of the period.
“Of course, we wanted to come out tough in the second period,” said Canucks captain Bo Horvat. “Maybe when they come in, it’s a different story, but when you’re 3-0 down and second, especially against a team like that, it’s hard to come back.”
Tyler Toffoli took defender Tyler Myers off the blue line and removed the puck from Lindholm from his knees. The center crossed a pair of stationary Canucks and put a snapshot past Demko to paddle Calgary’s lead with his 31st goal of the season.
Calgary took a 3-0 lead in the first half through Andersson.
The defender fired a shot from the post and at 13:51 mark for his 100th NHL point (15 goals and 85 assists).
“It was obviously a great game from (Tkachuk) here and so it’s great to get a goal, felt like it was a long time ago,” Andersson said. “So it was nice to get that point.”
Ten minutes before the game, the Flames had already taken their dominance with a 2-0 lead and had beaten the Canucks 11-4.
Tkachuk stretched the lead 7:46 into the first, hitting a shot on the Vancouver net from the hashtags and finding space between Demko and his right post. The goal was Tkachuk’s 29th of the season.
Hanifin opened the scoring just over three minutes earlier, collecting a long pass from Calgary’s last addition Calle Jarnkrok, and hitting a wrist along the Demko Stick side.
Jarnkrok, who was traded to the Flames on Wednesday by the Seattle Kraken, struck an assistant in the game, marking his first point for Calgary.
“They are a hell of a team but we did them pretty well tonight as well. They are one of the best teams in the league from top to bottom, without a doubt,” said Canucks forward JT Miller. “But we play as we do, we see it too often and cry in our game where the third period means nothing. Not nothing but if you fall with four goals, it’s just not excusable. I try to challenge myself to get better are, to lead better.
The Canucks wrap up a seven-game home game Sunday when they host the Buffalo Sabers. The Flames met the San Jose Sharks in Calgary on Tuesday.
NOTE: The result marks the first time that Vancouver has lost two games in a row in regulation since January 15th. â € ¦ The Flames hold a 2-1-0 lead in the season series with the fourth and final game for April 23 in Calgary.
This report from the Canadian Press was first published on March 19, 2022.
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