Tonight, the Canucks tried to play spoiler against a Flames squad that was desperate for a win as they chase a playoff spot.
Conor Garland scored on a breakaway in the first period to open the scoring for the Canucks, and Elias Pettersson tallied a power play goal early on in the second before Tyler Toffoli began the Flames’ comeback effort. The two sides traded chances, with the Canucks up 4-3 heading into the third and final period of play.
With under five minutes remaining in the third, Jonathan Huberdeau tallied his 15th goal of the season with a power play goal to even things up and send this game off to overtime.
Despite allowing four goals on 12 shots, former Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom made some key saves to keep the Flames in it before Tyler Toffoli’s game winning goal sealed the deal for the Flames in overtime.
The Flames have now won three games in a row for the first time since December as they keep the gap between them and the Winnipeg Jets narrow at just two points. The Jets won earlier today, meaning the Flames really needed this win.
And hey, kudos to them for getting the job done.
As for Canucks individual performances, it really seemed like a tough night for Tyler Myers, and I think we’ve said that more than a few times already this season. Another former Canuck Troy Stecher scored a goal off the rush on a play where Myers looked completely lost defensively.
The best part of the night from a Canucks perspective was undoubtedly Aidan McDonough scoring the first goal of his NHL career, and being greeted first by his best friend since the first grade, Jack Rathbone.
McDonough was all smiles at the bench, and his excitement was palpable even through the broadcast. I suppose we should cheat a little bit and show you the actual goal (usually we save the highlight GIFs for The Stanchies, but it feels appropriate to make the exception for McDonough tonight.)
My fun fact of the night to close out tonight’s instant reaction: Calgary and Vancouver both entered this evening’s contest with exactly 34 wins on the season and not that long ago, the Canucks had more wins than the Flames.