The Vancouver Canucks opened their season against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night, the same team they faced last year in their season opener. They lost that game 6-5 in overtime, but this time walked away with a 5-1 win, thanks to stellar goaltending from Thatcher Demko and an onslaught of offence in the third period, led by Filip Chytil’s two goals and insurance from Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Brock Boeser. Here is your game recap.
Game Recap
In a tight first period that saw very little flow and a few nice saves from Demko and Dustin Wolf, the Canucks opened the scoring late courtesy of Kiefer Sherwood. Taking a pass from Drew O’Connor after MacKenzie Weegar missed the net at the other end, he raced down the right wing and snapped a shot past Wolf for the 1-0 lead. The Flames almost tied the game on the power play shortly after, but Demko made a highlight-reel save on Nazem Kadri to preserve the lead – at least it looked like he did; the statisticians never gave the Flames a shot, but it sure appeared to be a save. Regardless, the period ended with the Canucks up 1-0 on the scoreboard and ahead 8-6 on the shot clock.
The second period didn’t feature any scoring, despite the Canucks and Flames having two power plays apiece. It was also filled with physicality and two big hits that were reviewed for five-minute majors and reduced to two-minute minors. First, Weegar drilled Elias Pettersson into the boards from behind, which sent him to the dressing room for a while, then a little after that, Elias Pettersson (the defenceman), threw a similar check on Connor Zary. The rest of the period remained a tight checking goalie duel, and finished the same as the first, with the Canucks up 1-0 and still ahead in shots 16-14. Demko arguably was the busier of the two, making a few more high-danger saves than his counterpart at the other end.
The floodgates opened in the third for the Canucks, as they outscored 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 to be had 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 and won their season and home opener, 5-1.
Goaltending & 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. As for special teams, the penalty killing 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 at home that same night to face the St. Louis Blues.
