Elias Pettersson scored the shootout winner Saturday, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.
Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 44 of 47 shots and had three more saves in the shootout. Bo Horvat, Josh Leivo and Brock Boeser scored for Vancouver in regulation.
The victory snapped a three-game losing skid for the Canucks.
Elias Lindholm, Sam Bennett and Andrew Mangiapane scored for Calgary, which lost its second straight for the first time since Dec. 22. David Rittich had 22 saves and made two stops in the shootout.
The Canucks and Flames traded goals throughout, starting with a Vancouver score just 44 seconds in.
Defenseman Chris Tanev got the puck off the draw and put it directly on Horvat’s stick. Horvat scored over Rittich’s arm on the first shot of the game.
Horvat has 43 points this season. The goal was his second in 18 games.
The Flames got on the board midway through the first, capitalizing on a rebound.
Sean Monahan got the puck to Lindholm in front and the center beat the goal through the legs.
Leivo put the Canucks up again before the period was through, rocketing a shot from high in the slot past Rittich.
Less than a minute later, Markstrom struggled to contain a bouncing puck and Bennett tipped it in to tie the score.
Markstrom stopped the Flames from going into the intermission up a goal, however, denying Johnny Gaudreau on a breakaway with just five seconds left in the period.
Late in the third, he repeated the feat, once again robbing the Flames left-winger with a glove save.
Saturday was a banner game from Markstrom, who was under siege in the second period, facing 20 shots.
Calgary went up a goal 12:19 into the frame after Vancouver’s Alex Biega failed to clear the puck.
Noah Hanifin sent a pass to Mangiapane, and the 22-year-old hammered it into the net for his first NHL goal.
The Flames had outshot the Canucks 17-1 in the second when Mangiapane scored.
Despite being heartily outplayed in the period, Vancouver found a way to tie the score at 3-all.
Pettersson circled the Calgary zone, patiently waiting for an opportunity before sending a pass to Boeser, who was alone in the circle. The right-winger wound up and ripped a wrist shot past Rittich.
Pettersson also assisted on Leivo’s goal and has 50 points in his first 45 NHL games.
NOTES: The Canucks confirmed on Saturday that left-winger Sven Baertschi will be out of the lineup indefinitely. Coach Travis Green said he is suffering from post-concussion syndrome. The team is also missing backup goalie Thatcher Demko, who is out with a knee sprain, and defenseman Alex Edler, who has a concussion. … Calgary’s James Neal was missing some teeth after Saturday’s contest. An official collected at least two teeth from the ice after the left-winger caught a high-stick from Vancouver’s Alex Biega midway through the third period. Biega was handed a four-minute penalty for the play.
UP NEXT
Flames: At Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Canucks: Host San Jose Sharks on Monday.
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