Sunday 11 October 2015

Canucks fall 3-2 in overtime to Flames in home opener

The Vancouver Canucks got one point on a night they thought they should have earned two.
The Canucks could not hang onto a 2-1 third-period lead and fell 3-2 in overtime Saturday night to the Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena.
“We have got to be better in the third period,” Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins said after the game. “We didn’t have as good a third period. They played well, but we gave them a lot of transition, we quit putting pucks behind their D and they started coming at us.
“It was nice to get one point, but I think that is a game where you have to find a way to get two.”
Johnny Gaudreau beat Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller at 3:03 of overtime after he stripped the puck off Canucks forward Brandon Sutter.
It was the Canucks’ first taste of 3-on-3 overtime. Daniel Sedin had a chance to win it earlier in OT, but was stopped in close by Calgary goalie Jonas Hiller.
“The pass I don’t think was hard enough,” Daniel said. “Hiller was there.
“It (OT) was fun, lots of chances back and forth. We could have gotten the win, but they were able to score.”
Second-period goals by Bo Horvat and rookie Jared McCann, with his first in the NHL, had given the Canucks a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

But they fell victim to a Flames team that became known for its third-period comebacks last season. Sean Monahan tied the game at 8:39 of the third period, beating Miller from in close on a set up from Jiri Hudler and Gaudreau.
“We have to win tonight’s game when you are up 2-1,” Daniel said. “We talked about getting pucks deep and making the right plays and we didn’t do that. It’s disappointing. They came at us hard, but we have to make the right plays.”
The win was retribution of sorts for the Flames, who were beat 5-1 by the Canucks in the season-opener for both teams Wednesday night in Calgary.
Horvat tied the game 1-1 on a Vancouver power play two minutes into the second period, finishing off some nice work around the net. Sven Baertschi and rookie defenceman Ben Hutton drew assists on Horvat’s first goal of the season and his first career power-play goal.
“I thought we shut it down in the third period and didn’t play as well as we have in the past and I think that is what hurt us tonight,” Horvat said.
“They got more pucks in deep than we did. They went on the forecheck and got as many pucks to the net as they could and they just crashed the net and I think that is something we totally got away from in the third period. We started to make plays at their blue (line) instead of getting it in deep and getting on the forecheck.”
McCann put the Canucks in front at 11:33 of the second, beating Hiller glove side with a brilliant quick-release shot from between the hash marks. Brandon Prust and Jannik Hansen drew assists on the goal.


8

No comments:

Post a Comment