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.
āI think we were tired. It caught up to us,ā Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. āThe second half of the game, listen, they didnāt quit. I got no problem. But youāve got to learn how to play tired. Youāve 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.
āItās easy to say but keep it simple, I think,ā Hoglander said. āWe 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 DeSmithās blocker.
The Flames took their first lead at 10:49 of the second when Rasmus Anderssonās slap shot squeaked through DeSmithās 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.
āObviously, it felt good. Itās been a while,ā Huberdeau said. āIt 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.
āHis attitude coming to the rink, every day heās positive and tries to get better,ā Dube said.
After Hoglanderās goal at 10:06 cut Calgaryās lead to 4-2, Huberdeau assisted on Lindholmās 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. Petterssonās 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.