VANCOUVER — J.T. Miller's third-period goal stood up as the winner as the Canucks doubled up the Flames 4-2 Saturday at Rogers Arena.
Rasmus Andersson and Joel Hanley replied for Calgary, who battled valiantly but fell short against the Western Conference leaders.
The homeside opened the scoring inside the opening minute, as Elias Pettersson set up linemate Nils Hoglander for a tap in at the back post.
That early goal proved to be the only marker of the opening frame, but not without a lack of trying on Calgary’s part.
Canucks netminder Casey DeSmith was forced into a pair of tricky pad saves before the midway mark off shots from Daniil Miromanov and Andrew Mangiapane.
Andersson then stepped into a slapshot from the top of the right circle that dented DeSmith’s left post.
Shots on goal were even at six apiece through 20 minutes - Markstrom’s best stop coming with just under six minutes to play, he padded aside a Miller effort from just outside his crease after the sniper found space down the right wing.
Hoglander extended the Canucks’ lead 8:16 into the middle frame on a quick counter-attack.
He accepted the puck from Pettersson and converted on a breakaway backhand for his 22nd goal of the season.
The visitors kept pressing, coming close on a breakaway of their own moments later, during which Jonathan Huberdeau forced DeSmith into a save and Vasily Podkolzin into a minor penalty for slashing.
Calgary’s efforts in the offensive zone paid dividends with 1:29 to play in the middle frame.
A.J. Greer feathered a drop pass into the high slot from the right wing, allowing Andersson to step into a snapshot that zipped past DeSmith’s left arm.
