VANCOUVER — J.T. Miller believes he and his Vancouver Canucks teammates raised the bar for themselves on Thursday night.
Not only did the Canucks extinguish the Calgary Flames' 10-game win streak, but they did so in dominant fashion, handing the visitors a lopsided 7-1 loss.
“We just set a standard for ourselves for the rest of the year. And that’s not by winning by six goals, but it’s playing the right way, being sharp on the special teams, being ready to start the game," said Miller, who put up two goals — including one on a penalty shot — and two assists for the fourth four-point performance of his career.
"We have a standard. We need to play to that from here on out. We shouldn’t be satisfied with anything other than that, really.”
Elias Pettersson had two goals and a helper for the Canucks (25-22-6), captain Bo Horvat scored twice and Conor Garland also found the back of the net for his 14th goal of the year.
Quinn Hughes and Brock Boeser — playing in his 300th career game — each contributed a pair of assists, and all-star goalie Thatcher Demko made 29 saves.
It was a result Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau didn't see coming.
"We’ll take it," he said. "It certainly doesn’t happen often when you’re playing such a good hockey team but everything seemed to be going right for us.”
Andrew Mangiapane had the lone tally for the Flames (30-14-6), who came into the game on a 10-game win streak where they outscored their opponents 43-14.
Calgary's Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves against his former team before he was replaced in the third period due to an equipment issue. Dan Vladar stopped 13-of-16 shots in relief.
“You throw that out," said Flames centre Blake Coleman. "You're not gonna win 82 games in a season, as much as you'd like to. Good teams get beat and good teams have had bad nights but to be a good team you got to respond and be able to learn from these games versus get stuck in a rut.
"We had won 10 in a row for a reason. We're a really good hockey team and this is part of the growth of our group is being able to respond after what I view as an embarrassing loss and put together good game at home.”
Mangiapane ruined Demko's shutout with just over two minutes left on the clock, picking off an errant pass in the neutral zone and putting a wraparound shot into the net for his 26th goal of the season.
The Canucks wore their black retro skate jersey and Demko added vintage-looking pads and a stick in tribute to Vancouver's legendary goalie Kirk McLean.
The goalie's best save of the night came 7:29 into the second period when he lost his stick for an extended period. Calgary's Rasmus Anderson wound up for a wide-open chance at the top of the slot and Demko dropped to the splits, robbing the defenceman with an otherworldly glove stop.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my life, the windmill stuff. It’s never been my game, not even in practices and stuff. So it was weird," Demko said. "I don’t know what came over me, maybe a little bit of Kirk here."
The Flames were on the power play when the Canucks went up 7-0. With Travis Hamonic in the box for holding, Pettersson got a short-handed breakaway and blasted a shot past Vladar from high in the slot.
“Our penalty killers weren't very good tonight," said Darryl Sutter, Calgary's head coach. "Our defence as a group was borderline awful. That reflected in our penalty kill.”
The Canucks were 3 for 7 with the man advantage on Thursday and the Flames failed to score on their lone power play.
Vancouver came into the game with the 17th-best power play (19.5 per cent) in the NHL while Calgary had the 3rd-best penalty kill (85.6 per cent).
Garland increased Vancouver's lead to 6-0 early in the third, unleashing a rocket from one knee. The shot hit Vladar's outstretched stick but the contact did little to change the puck's path as it sailed into the back of the net.
The Flames briefly appeared to get on the board 1:05 into the period when Matthew Tkachuk sent a puck into the back of the Canucks net through a crowded crease. But officials on the ice quickly waved off the goal for incidental contact.
After a scoreless first period, the Canucks leapt out to a 5-0 lead in the second.
With just seconds left in the middle frame there was a scramble in the Calgary crease and during the fray, defenceman Rasmus Anderson closed his hand on the puck, gifting Miller a penalty shot.
The veteran forward skated out wide, then patiently drifted toward the crease, drawing Vladar out of the net before wrapping a shot around the goalie's outstretched leg to put Vancouver up 5-0.
Horvat put away his second of the night on a power play at the 18:42 mark after Blake Coleman was called for tripping.
Midway through the penalty, Markstrom lost a skate blade and was at the bench for several moments before the on-ice officials forced a goalie change, saying the repairs weren't done quickly enough. He was replaced by Vladar, who remained in net for the third period.
Vladar had barely stretched in the crease when Horvat picked up a rebound at the top of the crease and fired it in for his 17th goal of the year.
Horvat scored his 16th less than eight minutes earlier.
Tyler Motte sped down the ice on a breakaway but Markstrom made the pad stop. Horvat picked up the rebound and blasted it past the Flames netminder to give the Canucks a 3-0 lead.
A potent power play was key for Vancouver on Thursday.
Miller scored his first goal of the night 10:18 into the second after Sean Monahan was sent to the box for high-sticking.
Miller's blast from the faceoff circle went bar down and in, prompting cheers of "Bruce, there it is!" by fans appreciative of Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Pettersson opened the scoring with a power play marker 3:42 into the second after Coleman was called for holding.
The Swedish centre beat Markstrom stick side with a one-timer from the faceoff dot for his 15th goal of the year.
The Flames will host the Minnesota Wild Saturday in the first game of a home-and-home series. The Canucks kickoff a four-stop road swing Sunday with a visit to the New York Rangers.
NOTES: Calgary's Erik Gudbranson sent Jason Dickinson hard into the boards midway through the second period and the Vancouver forward crumpled to the ice with an apparent leg injury. He left the ice on his own but did not return to the game. … The Canucks marked Black History Month with a special warm-up jersey on Thursday and a ceremonial puck drop by Claude Vilgrain, the first Black player in the franchise's history.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2022.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
