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Instant Reaction: Öhgren scores, Tolopilo pulled in Canucks’ 7-3 loss to Flames
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Photo credit: © Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
David Quadrelli
Mar 29, 2026, 00:47 EDT
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!

Starting Lineup

First Period

Less than a minute into the game, Evander Kane cleared the puck over the glass from his own end, giving the Flames the first power play. Matt Coronato promptly put the puck in the back of the net, beating Nikita Tolopilo with a nice one-timer.
1-0 Flames. 
Then the big boys got after it. Curtis Douglas politely asked Adam Klpaka if he wanted to drop the gloves, and Klapka obliged.
Nice tilt! Be sure to head on over to hockeyfights.com to vote on the winner!
After the fight, Dustin Wolf made a great pad save off of Liam Öhgren, and moments later, Filip Hronek fanned on a breakout pass that quickly ended up in a Flames point shot that Joel Farabee tipped past Nikita Tolopilo.
2-0 Flames in a hurry. 
On the next shift, Victor Mancini tossed Zayne Parekh into Dustin Wolf during a mad scramble in front, and with Wolf down on the ice, Brock Boeser arrived on the scene to deposit the puck into the back of the net. Calgary challenged the goal, and were successful in doing so. Back to 2-0.
Five minutes in, this game was an absolute chaotic mess.
The Canucks got another power play opportunity just a couple minutes before the halfway mark of the opening frame, and Wolf was up to stopping both of the shots thrown his way.
The game cleaned up a bit and both teams did a better job of halting one another in the neutral zone, but with just over a minute left, the Canucks got on the board. Elias Pettersson made a neat little between-the-legs pass to Linus Karlsson, who moved in on a 2-on-1 with Liam Öhgren, who made no mistake in ripping a shot past Wolf to get the Canucks on the board.
2-1.
Some takeaways from the first:
-Liked a few of the retrievals under pressure for Victor Mancini. More than once, he used his size to shield the puck from a forechecker and wheel the puck out of the zone.
-I know the shooting percentage is going to come down (and has already started to) but I’m increasingly convinced the Canucks have a solid middle six winger capable of chipping in with 20 goals and playing in all situations in Liam Öhgren. And I wrote this BEFORE his goal!

Second Period

So, the Flames really poured it on in the second. First, Ryan Strome tipped a  point shot past Tolopilo, and this was one the Canucks’ netminder — who notably hadn’t played a game in two weeks before tonight — likely wants back.
3-1.
Then, less than five minutes later, Olli Maata poked one past Tolopilo. Another one he’d likely want back.
4-1. 
After this one, Tolopilo got the hook, and Kevin Lankinen entered the game.
Unfortunately, Lankinen proceeded to let a bad goal of his own in on the very first shot he faced 11 seconds after the goal against Tolopilo.
5-1.
This one was getting out of hand in a hurry.
The Canucks got a power play chance with just over seven minutes left in the period, and it was Brock Boeser who continued his hot month of March, scoring his sixth goal of the month and 18th of the year:
5-2. 
To their credit, the Canucks kept up their effort and got a good number of shots off on Wolfe to finish out the second. Unfortunately, a Zayne Parekh power play goal meant they’d be playing from down by four once again as they head into the third.
6-2.
Some takeaways from the second:
-Why couldn’t the Canucks acquire Ryan Strome or some other bad money at the trade deadline?

Third Period

Evander Kane had a great chance to pull the Canucks within three by scoring in game number 999, but Dustin Wolf robbed him in tight early into the third.
With just over seven minutes left, Nils Höglander laid out an official (he got up fine and stayed in the game), and then redirected a Victor Mancini shot past Wolf to bring the Canucks to down by three.
With four minutes to go, the Canucks pulled Lankinen and sent out an extra attacker. Things got interesting when Kevin Bahl took a delay of game penalty, but the Canucks didn’t have another goal in them — let alone three.
The Flames added another one with 7.6 seconds left.
7-3 final. 
Some final takeaways:
-I really like Marco Rossi’s work as a play driver and puck distributor in the offensive end. His feet always seem to be moving, and his head always seems to be up, scanning the ice for creative options while the puck is on his stick.
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!

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