CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Elias Lindholm had a goal and two assists and Jonathan Huberdeau ended an 11-game scoring drought, leading the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Mackenzie Weegar, Dillon Dube and Noah Hanifin also scored for Calgary (6-8-2), which improved to 4-1-1 in its last six games. Huberdeau added an assist.

Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves and improved to 4-6-1 on the season.

Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander scored for Vancouver (12-4-1), which lost for just the second time in nine games. Casey DeSmith finished with 34 saves in his first loss of the season.

Vancouver defenseman Filip Hronek had his 11-game point streak snapped.

ā€œI think we were tired. It caught up to us,ā€ Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. ā€œThe second half of the game, listen, they didnā€™t quit. I got no problem. But youā€™ve got to learn how to play tired. Youā€™ve got to manage the puck a little more.ā€

The Canucks were coming off a 4-3 overtime victory against the Islanders on Wednesday night.

ā€œItā€™s easy to say but keep it simple, I think,ā€ Hoglander said. ā€œWe had a lot of turnovers today. We learn and do better next game.ā€

After Vancouver opened the scoring midway through the first period, the Flames scored the next four goals.

Calgary pulled even at 17:53 when Weegar took a drop pass from AJ Greer and ripped a 40-foot wrist shot over DeSmithā€™s blocker.

The Flames took their first lead at 10:49 of the second when Rasmus Anderssonā€™s slap shot squeaked through DeSmithā€™s pads and Dube reached behind him to knock it over the line.

Calgary increased its lead to 3-1 with 36 seconds remaining in the period. In what proved to be the eventual winner, Hanifin carried the puck deep into the Canucks' end and scored with a shot inside the far post.

But the biggest ovation ā€“ and celebration -- of the night came 5:53 into the third period when Huberdeau got a pass from Backlund and zipped a shot under the crossbar.

Huberdeau, who is in the second season of an $84 million, eight-year deal, entered with just seven points in 15 games. Two seasons ago, he had a 115-point season with the Florida Panthers.

ā€œObviously, it felt good. Itā€™s been a while,ā€ Huberdeau said. ā€œIt was good to finally get a goal and a big win for us.ā€

Dube said it was nice to see Huberdeau get rewarded for the work he puts in.

ā€œHis attitude coming to the rink, every day heā€™s positive and tries to get better,ā€ Dube said.

After Hoglanderā€™s goal at 10:06 cut Calgaryā€™s lead to 4-2, Huberdeau assisted on Lindholmā€™s empty netter at 18:08. Lindholm had also been struggling, having gone pointless in nine of his last 10 games.

Off to its fastest start in franchise history, Vancouver opened the scoring at 9:36 on a power play. Petterssonā€™s one-timer from the faceoff dot completed a slick passing sequence with Quinn Hughes and JT Miller.

UP NEXT

Canucks: Host the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

Flames: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday.

---

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Copyright 2024 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.