Hoglander scores twice, Canucks defeat Flames

VANCOUVER -- Nils Hoglander scored twice for the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland each had two assists, Elias Lindholm scored in his first game against his former team, and Casey DeSmith made 22 saves for the Canucks (45-18-8), who have won three in a row and are 7-1-1 in their past nine games.

"That line was feeling it tonight,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said of Pettersson, Garland and Hoglander.

Each has scored two goals in three games since Tocchet put them together on the same line, combining for 11 points.

“We played with some pace,” Garland said. “[Hoglander] really had his legs early, got us going on the forecheck. Us undersized guys, we’ve got to spread them out in the [defensive] zone, and that's kind of what we did, create a lot of chances.”

Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves for the Flames (33-31-5) in his first game back from a lower-body injury that kept him out for five games. Calgary has lost two in a row and five of its past seven.

“We fought hard to the end,” Flames forward Nazem Kadri said. “Obviously, there's a couple plays in there that kind of decide the game and we'd like back, but we fought hard, and we gave it a good effort tonight.”

Hoglander put the Canucks ahead 1-0 48 seconds into game. Garland gained the zone and carried the puck to the left face-off circle before passing to Pettersson at the right dot, where he passed back across to Hoglander for a tap-in at the far edge of the crease.

“We try to work hard, make plays, play smart, and today we did,” Pettersson said of his line.

Hoglander made it 2-0 at 8:16 of the second period on a breakaway deke to the backhand over the outstretched left pad of Markstrom.

“I just tried to get [Markstrom] down on his knees and get it up high, and it worked,” Hoglander said.

Hoglander has scored all of his NHL career-high 22 goals this season at even strength, tied for 16th in the League, and tied with J.T. Miller for the Vancouver lead.

“My first day here, my first year here I couldn't believe how good he was three years ago,” Garland said. “And I think he's just really found his game all around the ice. It's hard when you're younger and there's not really much structure in place and you're kind of just trying to feel the game. Now we're a very structured team, play a hard style of hockey, and I think it's coming along for him. … He’s going to be a good player in this league for a long, long time.”

Rasmus Andersson pulled Calgary within 2-1 with 1:29 left in the second period from the top of the right circle on the rush.

“These are games that you want to find a way to win,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “We got a late goal in the second period, and you want to build on some of that momentum, and we weren't able to do that tonight.”

Miller made it 3-1 at 16:42 of the third period with a one-timer on the power play after he drew a tripping penalty on a partial breakaway.

Vancouver went 1-for-3 on the power play. Calgary was 0-for-2.

“Our finish wasn't there for us, and they scored on the power play, and we didn't,” Huska said. “When you're playing tight-checking games and there's not a lot of room on the ice, that will be the difference almost 100 percent of the time.”

Lindholm scored into an empty net with 1:10 left to make it 4-1. It was his first game against his former team since being traded to the Canucks on Jan. 31. He played 418 games in six seasons with the Flames.

Joel Hanley scored on a screened shot off the left boards with 18 seconds left for the 4-2 final.

NOTES: Flames forward Connor Zary was minus-1 with one penalty in 16:24 of ice time in his return after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. … Vancouver has killed off 10 straight power plays in the past four games. … Canucks defenseman Ian Cole missed a second straight game to rest a minor injury. … Hoglander’s goal 48 seconds into the game was the third opening-minute goal for the Canucks this season, behind Brock Boeser (15 seconds on Nov. 9) and Miller (24 seconds on March 13). … Miller became the fourth player in Vancouver history to have multiple 90-point seasons, joining Pavel Bure (three), Markus Naslund (two) and Henrik Sedin (two). Miller has 34 goals and 56 assists. … Garland has four points (two goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.