In their first matchup since opening night, the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames met for a Pacific Division battle on Tuesday night. The Canucks were looking to bounce back from a 7-3 shellacking by the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday while the Flames were playing the second half of a back-to-back after beating the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Monday. In the end, the Canucks got another strong effort from Elias Pettersson, who finished with a goal and an assist on his 26th birthday, to beat the Flames 3-1. JT Miller and Erik Brannstrom also finished with multipoint games, while Jonathan Lekkerimaki made his NHL debut in the win, logging 14:07 of ice time and two shots on goal.
Game Recap
The first period was back and forth with both teams getting chances to open the scoring. It remained scoreless until the final minute when Justin Kirkland potted his second of the season. The first ended with the Flames up 1-0 and the Canucks outshooting them 12-9.
The second opened with the Canucks on the power play after a high-sticking penalty was assessed to Daniil Miromanov at the end of the first. They didn’t waste any time capitalizing as Miller fed Pettersson near the net who tipped it behind Dan Vladar for his second in two games. Shortly after, Miller was at it again, this time passing it to Pius Suter for his sixth goal of the season, which is tied with the injured Brock Boeser for the team lead. Nothing else happened the rest of the period, with the Canucks going into the third up 2-1 on the scoreboard and 26-16 on the shot clock.
The Canucks added another goal in the final frame to make it a 3-1 final with Brannstrom firing home his first of the season, and first in a Canucks uniform after being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche earlier in the season. Kevin Lankinen bounced back from his poor effort against the Oilers to push his record to 8-1-2 making 27 saves in the win, while Vladar lost his third straight to drop to 2-3-1, stopping 29 of 32.
Up Next for the Canucks & Flames
The Canucks will continue their six-game homestand on Thursday when former captain Bo Horvat and the New York Islanders come to town. The Flames, meanwhile, return to Calgary to start a four-game homestand against the Nashville Predators on Friday.
