Nazem KadriÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s 14th goal of the season snapped a 1-1 tie midway through the third period and the Calgary Flames beat the visiting Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Tuesday.
Connor Zary and Jonathan Huberdeau, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary (18-12-7). The Flames leapfrog the Canucks and move into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Flames have lost just once in regulation in their last seven (4-1-2).
Brock Boeser scored the lone goal for Vancouver (17-11-8). The Canucks have just one win in their last six (1-2-3).
Boeser capitalizes on the power play! 🚨
Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥” Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)
Rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf had 23 stops to improve to 12-5-2.
After sitting out five of the last six with Thatcher DemkoÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s return, Kevin Lankinen had 26 stops in his return to the crease. He falls to 14-6-4.
The New YearÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Eve clash had its share of fireworks in the second period when there were three fights over a six-minute span Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥” two of them featuring CalgaryÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Ryan Lomberg. In the middle of that was another melee that ensued when Noah Juulsen caught Mikael Backlund with a knee-on-knee trip that resulted in MacKenzie Weegar going after Juulsen.
TAKEAWAYS
Canucks: Playing their second game without leading scorers Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, both sidelined with undisclosed injuries, the only offence came from the red-hot Boeser, who extended his goals streak to four games. The Canucks right-winger has six goals during that span and is up to 14 on the season.
Flames: ZaryÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s goal comes in his 100th NHL game and it was a goal that the entire line was in on. The sequence began with WeegarÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s long pass that put Jakob Pelletier on a breakaway. While Pelletier was thwarted, the puck remained in front with Yegor Sharangovich knocking it over to Zary, who knocked in his ninth of the season.
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KEY MOMENT
Three minutes after the Canucks tied it on the power play, the Flames retook the lead on KadriÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s goal at 9:18 of the third period. Continuing his resurgent season, Huberdeau set up Kadri by threading a perfect pass through the slot on a 3-on-2 rush that Kadri fired just inside the post.
KEY STAT
In an intriguing showdown between Wolf, one of the NHLÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s best goaltenders at home, and Lankinen, among the NHLÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s best on the road, Wolf improves to 10-1-1 at the Scotiabank Saddledome while LankinenÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s sterling record away from Rogers Arena falls to 10-2-1.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Flames: Host the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press