The Vancouver Canucks opened their season on Thursday night against the Calgary Flames, the same team they faced in their season opener last year. They lost that game 6-5 in overtime, but this time walked away with a 5-1 victorythanks to excellent goal-scoring work from Thatcher Demko and an attacking attack in the third period, led by Filip Chytil’s two goals and assurances from Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Brock Boeser. Here is your game overview.
Summary of the game
In a tight first period with very little flow and some nice saves from Demko and Dustin Wolf, the Canucks opened the scoring late thanks to Kiefer Sherwood. Following a pass from Drew O’Connor after MacKenzie Weegar missed the net at the other end, he ran down the right wing and fired a shot past Wolf for the 1-0 lead. The Flames nearly tied the game on the power play soon after, but Demko made a highlight-reel save from Nazem Kadri to preserve the lead – or at least it looked like he did; the statisticians never gave the Flames a chance, but it certainly seemed like a save. Regardless, the period ended with the Canucks up 1-0 on the scoreboard and 8-6 ahead on the shot clock.
No goals were scored in the second period, despite the Canucks and Flames each having two power plays. It was also filled with physicality and two big hits that were rated for five-minute majors and reduced to two-minute minors. First, Weegar drilled Elias Pettersson into the boards from behind, sending him to the locker room for a while, and moments later Elias Pettersson (the defender) threw a similar check to Connor Zary. The rest of the period remained a tight goaltending duel and ended the same as the first, with the Canucks up 1-0 and still leading in shots 16-14. Demko was probably the busier of the two and made a few more dangerous saves than his counterpart on the other side.
The floodgates opened in the third for the Canucks, as they defeated the Flames 4-1, led by Chytil’s two goals. Morgan Frost broke Demko’s shutout bid after Lekkerimaki made it 4-0, but Boeser made sure there was no comeback for the Flames, making it 5-1 about four minutes later. The Flames couldn’t put anything else past Demko, and the Canucks flipped the script from last year, winning their season and home opener 5-1.
Goalie and special teams
Demko finished the game with 17 saves on 18 shots, while Wolf allowed five goals in his second start in two days and stopped 21 of 26. On the special teams side, the penalty kill was strong on both sides, with both power plays going 0/4.
What’s next?
The Canucks travel to Edmonton on Saturday for the first nightcap of Hockey Night in Canada, while the Flames will be home that same evening to take on the St. Louis Blues.
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