Flames 3, Canucks 1: Game was far from a dud, but year ends with thud

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It started Tuesday as if the combatants had New Year’s Eve plans and wanted to get the game over with as soon as possible.

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The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames set a frenetic pace to open their third meeting of the season, and with wild-card playoff race implications at play between the bitter Pacific Division rivals, there was a heightened sense of urgency.

Sticks got up, tempers flared, there were three fights in the second period, and a level of chippy-ness associated with a game of elevated meaning as the teams combined for 16 penalties and 50 minutes.

It was also a test of team unity and the Canucks answered the call in a tough 3-1 setback that vaulted Flames into the second wild-card position, a point before the Canucks, who are now on the outside of a playoff spot but have a game in hand.

The best shot for the Canucks at the Saddledome in the absence of the injured Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson was to manufacture more shots because they rank 29th with an average of just 25.8 per outing. They put up 11 in the first frame but finished with just 24.

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More importantly, the Canucks knew Kevin Lankinen would have to steal a win. There wasn’t Hughes, that get-out-of-jail-free card, to calm waters in the defensive zone and easily trigger the transition with sublime skating and precise playmaking. Derek Fobort and Tyler Myers are not Hughes and Filip Hronek.

Carson Soucy and Noah Juulsen were trapped on a 3:15 shift in the second period because they couldn’t advance the puck far enough for a line change. Hurry back Hughes.

The Canucks finally drew even after giving up a first-period goal when Brock Boeser struck for his sixth goal in the last four games in the third period. His deft deflection of a J.T. Miller shot was his 14th goal of the season.

However, Nazem Kadri converted a cross-ice pass of and odd-man rush just three minutes later before Soucy gave the puck away for Jonathan Huberdeau to salt it away with an empty-net goal.

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“It was a hard-working game — a lot of emotion,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. “The guys stuck together and gave an effort, but there were a couple of self-inflicted goals that were preventable. We can’t give up a 3-on-2 and not play it right and with the 6-on-5 we were a little antsy with the puck.

“(There were) a couple of moments where you’re looking for big moments from people, but for the most part, the guys worked hard.”

The heated temperature of the game tested the Canucks’ resolve to respond and that might have been the best takeaway. They didn’t go quietly into the night.

“I was just happy that we stuck together out there, but we gave up some rush chances and small details that cost us,” said Boeser. “We’ve been playing a lot of close games and we’ve got to make sure that we learn from them.”

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Here’s what else we learned as Connor Zary also scored for the Flames and the Canucks fell to 10-4-2 on the road:

Lankinen versus Blackwood bucks

Any pending unrestricted free agent is aware of what’s happening with those in a similar situation. Especially one who ranks as a bargain-aisle find.

For Lankinen, 29, the latest indication of where he may slot in for a Canucks contract or the open market came Friday. When goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, 28, of the Colorado Avalanche agreed to a five-year, US$26.50 million contract it probably caught the attention of Lankinen.

The amiable Finnish stopper, who will represent his country in the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament in February, is in line for a huge salary increase. The one-year, $875,000 deal he agreed to in September became an insurance policy with Thatcher Demko rehabbing a knee injury and Arturs Silovs getting off to a rough start.

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Lankinen won his first 10 road starts to set an NHL record and it’s understandable that the Canucks could entertain locking him up, even with Demko under contract for another season at $5 million before needing a new deal. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin told Sportsnet on Monday there might be a way to retain both stoppers.

“There are ways to afford both, if we want to go down that path,” said Allvin. “I think Kevin has been really good for us up to this point. This is the most he has played and a very small sample size of what he is. But not doubt he has been very good for us.”

Lankinen finished with 26 saves and was at his customary calm and collected best. It took the 11th Flames shot in the first period to get a puck past him. Zary finished off a sequence that started with Lankinen denying Jakob Pelletier on a backhanded after he got past Juulsen. Yegor Sharangovich then shovelled the rebound into the top of the crease for a two-foot, tap-in to open scoring.

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Lankinen was tested early and often Tuesday. In the first period, he got a right arm on a Sharangovich shot destined for the top corner and then fought off a hotshot by Zary before getting a blocker on a shot he didn’t even see. It was the same in the second period. Lankinen hugged the post on a 5-on-3 Flames power play to deny Matt Coronado.

The Kuzmenko calamity continues

You’d think after sitting out five-straight games and eight of the last 11, of which most were as a healthy scratch to reach him on some level, mercurial Russian winger Andrei Kuzmenko would have had plenty of incentive to right so many wrongs Sunday in a 3-0 loss at Las Vegas.

He responded with no shots and one hit on 9:49 of ice time and sat the last eight minutes.

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Let’s put it this way. More than 600 players have at a least one even-strength goal this season. Kuzmenko has none. The Flames must hope he can find some form to at least be a chip to possibly play at the March 7 trade deadline. Good luck with that.

Lindholm moved on in free agency but jettisoning Kuzmenko proved a prudent play.

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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