The Canucks needed a win on Sunday night against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena and they didn’t get it, instead dropping a 5-2 decision and falling three games below .500 on the season.
Maybe Vancouver thought it was going to be easy after Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek scored just 1:05 into the contest with a wrist shot top shelf, glove side on Flames goalie Dustin Wolf.
Although Calgary sits next to last in the Western Conference, they came in off back-t0-back wins over the Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars. The win Sunday moves them to within a point of the third-from-last Canucks.
After Hronek opened the scoring, Morgan Frost and Connor Zary tallied for the Flames 35-seconds apart to give Calgary a 2-1 lead after one. Kevin Bahl and Yegor Sharangovich added goals in the second period to extend the margin.
This, despite the fact the visitors were 0-for-4 on the power play through the first forty minutes. The Canucks were 0-for-2.
Vancouver fans would be hoping for a repeat of the October 9th game when their club scored four 3rd period goals to beat the Flames 5-1. This time around, not so much. To stage that type of scoring burst, one’s team needs to be completely in sync. The Canucks appeared to be anything but as the final period got underway.
Vancouver caught a break at 7:41 when Calgary’s Jonathan Huberdeau was sent to the penalty box for a hook that wasn’t a hook. Karma worked in favour of the Flames just 18-seconds later when Blake Coleman scored shorthanded on a beautiful pass from Mikael Backlund. Coleman redirected the puck through goalie Kevin Lankinen’s legs while rushing towards the net. 5-1 Calgary.
Seventeen seconds later Canucks captain Quinn Hughes went end-to-end through the Flames, fired a shot, saw the rebound pop out and fired it home. The highlight reel goal quickly restored the deficit to just three.
Vancouver pulled their goalie with just under five minutes remaining to try to get back in it. When Coleman went off for tripping Hughes at 17:49, it became a 6-on-4.
Absolutely nothing came of it.
Earlier Canucks:
— Canucks Desperation; History Repeats Itself
