Flames Drop Physical Affair To Canucks

VANCOUVER — Matt Coronato opened the scoring on a first-period powerplay, but the Canucks responded with four third-period goals to hand the Flames a 4-1 defeat in a hard-hitting, emotive matchup Saturday at Rogers Arena.

The Tone-Setter:

Less than three minutes into the first period, Flames winger Adam Klapka and Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn shed the mitts for a spirited bout in the Vancouver zone. Klapka landed a handful of rights, more than holding his own against the veteran battler in a scrap that any latecomers to Rogers Arena would have been sorry to miss.

The truculence didn't stop there, either. Many a stoppage featured a scrum (or more) in front of each net, and Schenn and Klapka nearly went for Round Two late in the second period after a heated exchange in front of the Calgary bench.

The Turning Point:

The Flames held a 1-0 lead entering period three, but 88 seconds into the final frame, the Canucks caught a break. Devin Cooley appeared to snag a rebound off the stick of Vancouver's Liam Ohgren, lunging backwards towards his goalline to trap the disc with enough urgency that the call on the ice was deemed 'no goal.'

But after review by the Situation Room in Toronto, the call was overturned, and the hosts took over from then on. It was deemed the white webbing in Cooley's catching mitt was the culprit, as the puck was briefly visible on review across the goalline

"I was like, 'What if I have black netting and black colouring on the glove?'" Cooley wondered post-game. "That might make a difference.

"I don't know, I might try that out."

Ice Chips:

Zayne Parekh and Joel Farabee each had one assist, recording their first points of the season ... Devin Cooley made 22 saves in his first action of the campaign ... Zach Whitecloud led Calgary with five blocked shots, while Maxim Tsyplakov paced the Flames with six hits.

Stat Pack:

Shots: CGY 24, VAN 26

Powerplay: CGY 1-2, VAN 0-5

Faceoffs: CGY 52.6%, VAN 47.4%

Blocked Shots: CGY 22, VAN 21

Hits: CGY 28, VAN 24

5-on-5 Scoring Chances: CGY 17, VAN 25

5-on-5 High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 6, VAN 9

Lines & Pairings:

FORWARDS

Matvei Gridin - Morgan Frost - Matt Coronato

Sam Honzek - Mikael Backlund - Joel Farabee

Brennan Othmann - Ryan Strome - Yegor Sharangovich

Maxim Tsyplakov - Martin Pospisil - Adam Klapka

DEFENCEMEN

Joel Hanley - Simon Nemec

Kevin Bahl - Zach Whitecloud

Jake Middleton - Zayne Parekh

GOALTENDERS

Devin Cooley (starter)

Dustin Wolf

They Said It:

What's Next:

The Flames conclude this West Coast trip Sunday night in Seattle against the Kraken, with puck drop at 6 p.m. MT. (Sportsnet West).