Ryan Miller makes 44 saves, Canucks win sixth in row

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks know they got away with one against the Calgary Flames after being outshot 46-13 at Rogers Arena on Friday.
Ryan Miller made 44 saves and Markus Granlund had two goals and an assist to help the Canucks to a 4-2 win in the first game of a home-and-home series.

WATCH: All Flames vs. Canucks highlights
"We definitely take the win but it's not good enough," forward Loui Eriksson said. "Too many shots and too many scoring chances. [Miller] came up big for us again and we owe him."

Vancouver (20-18-3) has won six straight games to move into the second wild card from the Western Conference, one point behind the Flames heading into the rematch in Calgary on Saturday.
"We won't make the playoffs playing like that," coach Willie Desjardins said.
The 33-shot differential was the largest deficit in a Canucks victory in franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"We didn't play the way we wanted to play but sometimes when you can win without your best stuff it is good, too," Desjardins said.
Granlund, who played parts of three seasons for the Flames before being traded to Vancouver on Feb. 22, 2016, scored on a power play with 21.8 seconds left in the second period and added a deflection goal from the slot 3:18 into the third. He insisted the trade wasn't on his mind.
"It's my team here now and I don't want to think about it," Granlund said.

Eriksson and Michael Chaput also scored for the Canucks, who are 8-2-1 in the past 11 games.
Michael Frolik scored 1:18 into the game and on the power play with 1:43 left, and Brian Elliott made nine saves for the Flames (21-18-2), who lost for the second time in six games.
"Sometimes a goalie can steal the game," Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We made some mistakes that gave them some pretty good chances at critical times."
Calgary had its chances. Johnny Gaudreau missed an open net and Lance Bouma had a shorthanded goal at 8:48 waved off before Chaput's first goal in 29 games with the Canucks tied it at 1-1 at 10:49.
Flames forward Alex Chiasson hit the crossbar shortly before Eriksson made it 2-1 at 13:07 on a pass that bounced in off defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon.

Goal of the game

Chaput made a nice pass to Jack Skille in the slot off the rush and he faked a slap shot before passing back to Chaput at the bottom of the right faceoff circle for a wrist shot under Elliott's blocker. "I feel like our line has been playing well lately and getting chances," Chaput said. "Finally we get rewarded."

Save of the game

Miller made a sprawling blocker stop along the goal line on defenseman Deryk Engelland with the Flames shorthanded. Granlund made it 3-1 before the power play expired. "That was probably the one that turned the game," Desjardins said.

Unsung performance of the game

Defenseman Nikita Tryamkin, who made a great play to set up Granlund's second goal, saved two late goals after breaking his stick, disrupting a pass in front and swatting a loose puck out of the air behind Miller.

Highlight of the game

Bouma lifted a rebound high over a fallen Miller after Flames forward Matt Stajan drove to the net with the puck on a shorthanded rush. The goal was waved off because Stajan made incidental contact with Miller in the crease. Gulutzan challenged the call but it was upheld after a review. "I was weighing the fact we are up 2-0 if we [get the call]," Gulutzan said. "At the end of the game, if I didn't call it, I would be kicking myself with the outcome of the game. I knew it was 50-50."

They said it

"Look at their goals. I know the shot totals weren't in their favor. Tip-ins, deflections, you can't blame your goalie on those. I thought he played well. It was one of those nights." -- Flames defenseman Mark Giordano on Brian Elliott, who made nine saves
"I knew they'd come. I don't think their team feels like they are ever out of it. If they get close anything is possible, so the focus was just survive minute by minute and get out with some points." -- Canucks goalie Ryan Miller on being outshot 23-3 in the third period

Need to know

Vancouver defenseman Chris Tanev left with seven minutes remaining in the first period after taking a Dougie Hamilton shot off the back of his right shoulder and did not return. Desjardins said Tanev will be re-evaluated in Vancouver Saturday morning. He did not travel with the team to Calgary. "But that won't rule him out," Desjardins said. … Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows was a late scratch with an illness but is expected to play in Calgary.

What's next

Canucks: At the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, NHL.TV)