Canucks rally in third period, score four in comeback against Flames

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks scored four goals in the third period en route to a 4-1 comeback win against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

Liam Ohgren had a goal and an assist, Drew O'Connor, Aatu Raty and defenseman Elias Pettersson each scored and Leevi Merilainen made 23 saves in his first start for the Canucks (2-1-0) since being claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 25. Tom Willander and Linus Karlsson each had two assists for the Canucks, who bounced back from a wild 9-7 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. 

“We started off a little slow, we had to get better, but overall a good team effort and we played for each other and we stepped up in the third period,” said Ohgren, who was playing his 100th NHL game. “It’s a privilege to be in the League and to get 100 games is a big accomplishment. And to top it off with those two (points), it’s a great game.”

Matt Coronato scored and Devin Cooley made 22 saves for the Flames (0-2-0), who were coming off a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken in their season opener on Thursday. 

“We were a much different team tonight than we were our first game of the year, so there's a lot of things that we can build off of from this game,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “Couple things again we got to clean up, but there's a lot we can build off tonight.” 

Coronato scored on the power play to make it 1-0 Flames at 14:51 of the first period, putting a wrist shot over the blocker side of Merilainen. 

After a scoreless second period, Ohgren tied it 1-1 at 1:28 of the third. Cooley stopped his initial redirection off the rush, but Ohgren chipped the rebound right back under his blocker arm and it trickled toward the net as Cooley spun around and covered it with his glove. 

Ohgren's goal was initially waved off on the ice and Cooley was confident it didn’t get past him, but a video review proved the puck crossed the goal line through the webbing of his glove.

"I for sure thought, 'No, it did not (cross the goal line).' I 100 percent was like, 'That's not a goal' because I watched (myself) cover it,” said Cooley, adding he might consider black lace in his glove pocket to make it harder to see. “What I think happened was I covered it and it hit this part of my glove (on the heel) and pushed underneath. I was pretty confident I didn't go in, just disappointing.”

Ohgren then spotted Pettersson pinching in from the left point with a pass to the face-off dot and the defenseman finished the play with a quick backhand under the glove of Cooley to make it 2-1 at 9:04. 

“I didn’t know he had those hands, but he’s been great defensively and he shows off he can do some things offensively as well,” Ohgren said of the defenseman's goal. “Great look and beautiful finish.”

O’Connor made it 3-1 at 16:33, finishing off a 2-on-1 with a wrist shot over Cooley’s glove after a big hit by center Elias Pettersson on Flames defenseman Zayne Parekh in the neutral zone created the odd-man rush.

Raty scored into an empty net at 17:16 for the 4-1 final. 

“It was more of a shift in their mindset of just playing direct and simple,” Vancouver coach Manny Malhotra said. “That was the message going into the game is we don't need to complicate things for ourselves. … There's no magic recipe for us. It's when they decided to be harder on pucks and be more direct in our game and change the tide for us.” 

NOTES: Flames forward Connor Zary was a healthy scratch, replaced by Brennan Othmann, who had one shot and three hits in 10:30 of ice time in his season debut. … Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk did not play because of illness after skating as the extra forward in practice on Friday. … Vancouver forward Paul Cotter had an assist to give him at least a point in all three games this season and five points in total (three goals, two assists).