The Calgary Flames had an opportunity to extended both their winning streak as well as the Vancouver Canucks’ losing streak. That did not happen as it was a game where the Canucks executed their game plan while the Flames were discombobulated from start to finish.
To put it shortly, in the first period the Flames were outplayed, in the second period the Flames were outplayed, and in the third period the Flames were outplayed. Calgary was lucky to be tied after a scoreless first period, with Jacob Markstrom making 20 saves in the opening frame alone. Unfortunately, Mikael Backlund was injured in the first period and did not return.
In the middle frame, some poor defensive zone play by the Flames led to a turnover that Quinn Hughes picked up to finally get one past Markstrom. Just a little over a minute later the Flames responded as Sam Bennett finished off a nice passing play to tie the game up at one. As it was heading into the first intermission, it was the same heading into the second: the Flames were lucky to be tied.
Not much changed in the third either, as the Flames looked lifeless while the Canucks were eager to snap their losing streak. Late in the third, Tyler Myers put the Canucks ahead and Brandon Sutter scored on the empty net to seal the win for Vancouver. Calgary will have some tough questions to answer after that effort. Thank goodness for Markstrom.
Game visualisations below:
Game events
All situations corsi
5v5 corsi
Shifts
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