Flames Fall 4-3 In Shootout

Two Canadian division rivals battling it out for a playoff spot.

A lot was on the line Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome when the Flames hosted the Canucks, leading by a single point in the standings for the second postseason wildcard spot.

Calgary led 3-2 heading into the final frame but the Canucks would score to force some additional action, prevailing 4-3 in a shootout.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the one-on-one battle, but Conor Garland – Vancouver’s fourth shooter - would win it beating Dustin Wolf, who finished the night with 28 saves.

The Calgary netminder and Calder candidate was stellar in the third period - when Vancouver outshot Calgary 17-4 - and also in overtime.

Huberdeau, meanwhile, scored a pair in regulation, while Nazem Kadri also tallied.

Flames captain Mikael Backlund left in the first period with an upper-body injury and didn’t return.

Kadri spotted a pinching Kevin Bahl on the backside, feathering a pass to him but Kevin Lankinen denied his offering on Calgary’s first shot of the night.

Not to be outdone, Wolf made a stellar stop not long after on Nils Hoglander with the end of his stick.

The Flames killed off a Canucks powerplay just past the midway point of the frame but Vancouver would score 10 ticks after it expired on a lucky break.

Joel Hanley blocked a shot by Pius Suter from the right faceoff circle, but the Canucks forward got his own rebound and snapped it at the net, the puck going off the heel of Hanley’s skate as he went down for another block and deflected shortside past Wolf at 13:33.

Kadri would score an absolute gem to knot things up with just over two minute to go in the opening stanza.

Rasmus Andersson made a long stretch pass to him as he split the Canucks defence, cutting back between Vancouver blueliner Marcus Pettersson and tucking it around the outstretched pad of Lankinen.

The Canucks went up by one in the second period when they made good on a powerplay after Ryan Lomberg was sent off on a cross-checking call on Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes.

The blueliner would sling a puck on net that Jake Debrusk deflected from the doorstep under the arm of Wolf at 10:32.

But the Flames charged back with a pair from Huberdeau.

The first came off a 2-0 shorthanded rush, the Flames forward able to tip a bouncing puck bar down over Lankinen off a feed from Kevin Rooney at 13:58.

Then he added a powerplay tally on a wild one at 16:51, snapping a wicked wrister that went top shelf and lodged under Lankinen’s water bottle in the top of the cage, the ref taking a few moments to see the puck’s perch and signal a goal.

As time wound down, Garland got a long feed and cut towards the cage, but Bahl caught him and used his reach and long stick to knock the puck off his blade with a brilliant defensive play.

Calgary got an early man-up in the third period, Lankinen making a big shoulder on a Kadri shot off a feed from Huberdeau.

A few minutes after it expired, the Canucks got a PP and hemmed Calgary into their zone, getting three shots but two huge blocks from Hanley and Blake Coleman to escape.

Elias Pettersson – the forward, that is, of course sharing the same name with a defenceman on the team who left midway through the game – scored at 13:16 on a rebound to force extra time.

The Lineup:

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Matt Coronato

Yegor Sharangovich - Morgan Frost - Martin Pospisil

Joel Farabee - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Ryan Lomberg - Kevin Rooney - Connor Zary

Defence

Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson

Joel Hanley - MacKenzie Weegar

Jake Bean - Brayden Pachal

Goaltender

Dustin Wolf - starter

Dan Vladar

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 23, VAN 31

Powerplay: CGY 1-3, VAN 1-4

Faceoffs: CGY 44.3%, VAN 55.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 11, VAN 24

Hits: CGY 29, VAN 18

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 13, VAN 17

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 9, VAN 10

Up Next:

The Flames host Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche Friday night at 7 p.m. CLICK FOR TICKETS