Canucks score 4 in 3rd, defeat Flames in Foote’s coaching debut

Filip Chytil scored twice, and Adam Foote won his NHL coaching debut for the Vancouver Canucks with a 5-1 season-opening victory against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Thursday.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Brock Boeser also scored in the four-goal third period to help Vancouver pull away. Thatcher Demko made 17 saves.

“We were patient first two periods and it paid off in the third one,” Chytil said.

Foote was hired on May 14 to replace Rick Tocchet, who stepped down as coach on April 29 and was later hired by the Philadelphia Flyers.

“He deserves it,” Chytil said of Foote, an assistant with the Canucks the previous three seasons. “He's been great since Day 1, and I'm very happy for him, and he's a guy who we want to play for, and we want to battle for on the ice.”

Morgan Frost scored, and Dustin Wolf made 21 saves starting back-to-back games for the first time with the Flames (1-1-0), who were coming off a 4-3 comeback shootout win in their season opener at the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

“It's tough to look at the score at the end of the game because I thought we battled really hard,” Frost said. “Home opener, we played last night, you get in late, and I thought we did a good job the first two periods, to be honest, kind of not letting them just control the game. And obviously it kind of ends like that, so it's a bad feeling right now after the game but if you can take any positives, I thought we skated well for being on a back-to-back like that and I think it deserved to be a closer game. We just couldn't bear down on our chances.”

Kiefer Sherwood put the Canucks ahead 1-0 at 14:53 of the first period with a wrist shot low past Wolf’s blocker from just inside the top of the right face-off circle. Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar missed the net on a good chance at the other end to create a rush chance going the other way.

Demko, who missed the first two months of last season recovering from a knee injury and only played 23 games, kept it 1-0 by stopping Blake Coleman on a short-handed breakaway 52 seconds into the second period and Yegor Sharangovich on a power-play rebound with 29 seconds left in the period.

“For two periods, we really liked how we were going,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “We needed one to find a way to go in and tonight it just wasn't there.”

That bounce Huska was looking for went the other way early in the third.

Chytil made it 2-0 at 2:54 of the third period, shortly after the Canucks killed his tripping penalty without surrendering a shot to the Flames power play. Chytil came out of the box and skated across the high slot before taking a shot that deflected off the helmet of Calgary defenseman Kevin Bahl atop the crease.

Bahl dropped to the ice and took Wolf with him, leaving an open net for Chytil after the puck bounced right back to him.

“It was an unfortunate play on their second goal,” Huska said. “That was a tough one for us to give up. … The next goal we gave up, we missed a grade-A chance in front of the net, we missed the net, and they ended up coming back with that breakaway, and that was pretty much it … the game got away from us after that.”

Chytil finished that breakaway with a high blocker shot at 8:53 to make it 3-0.

It was an ideal start for Chytil after missing the end of last season with a concussion.

“There's still so much room for improvement in every aspect of the game and that's why I love it, coming into the rink every day and focus on that,” Chytil said.

Lekkerimaki scored with a sweeping one-timer under Wolf’s blocker from the right face-off dot to make it 4-0 at 11:43.

“It was nice to see the different guys chip in at the end,” Sherwood said.

Frost spoiled Demko’s shutout at 13:06 with a low shot through traffic to make it 4-1 but Boeser restored the four-goal lead at 17:06 for the 5-1 final.

“I think the first game is huge,” Demko said. “Just keep the momentum building and especially the turnover we had from last year in our room and our coaching staff too. It's a testament to the work everyone put in the summer and then through camp. Obviously 81 left but it was a good first one for sure.”

NOTES: Bahl left the game after the shot off the back of his helmet. Huska did not have an update on his status. … Three of the four goalies dressed -- Demko, Wolf and Calgary backup Devin Cooley – were born in California, and it was just the second time in the NHL both starters are from the state. … It was the seventh career two-goal game for Chytil, who does not have a hat trick in the NHL. … Vancouver center Braeden Cootes, who was picked No. 15 in the 2025 NHL Draft, played 11:14 in his NHL debut and became the first 18-year-old since Petr Nedved in 1990 to open the season in the Canucks lineup.