Zadorov has assist on game-winner in debut, Canucks defeat Flames

CALGARY -- Nikita Zadorov had an assist on the game-winning goal in his debut, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on for a 4-3 victory against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

The defenseman was traded to the Canucks from the Flames on Thursday. He  cleared the puck from his own goal line, and Elias Pettersson tipped it on the way out of the zone for an empty-net goal make it 4-2 at 18:40.

"It feels great," said Zadorov, who initially was credited with the goal. "It's an important win for this team. It's a big road game. We played a really good hockey team on the road and we stuck with it. All the boys played [hard] today. It's definitely a nice starting point of my career with the Canucks."

Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary on the power play at 19:06 for the 4-3 final.

Pettersson, Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty each had a goal and an assist for Vancouver (16-8-1), which has alternated between regulation wins and losses for eight straight games. Thatcher Demko made 20 saves.

"I believe in this group," Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said. "I think we're going to win a lot of hockey games and I think we have to keep putting it together every night and finding a way to win."

Lindholm scored twice, and Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves for Calgary (10-11-3), which had won two in a row, each in overtime.

"I think overall they were more desperate than us," Lindholm said. "I think in the first they were stronger on pucks and won more battles and were better just overall. I think overall today we weren't good enough to win the game."

Hughes put the Canucks up 1-0 at 2:02 on the game's first shot, a wrister under Markstrom's glove from inside the right face-off dot. The goal, his ninth, set an NHL career high in 25 games and leads NHL defensemen this season.

Lafferty pushed the lead to 2-0 at 8:38 when he knocked in a loose rebound at the edge of the crease after Markstrom made the initial save on a Filip Hronek one-timer from the point.

"We can start on time and start better and push the pace," Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. "That first 10 minutes they sort of dictated the pace and we should be the one in our home building to dictate the pace in the first 10 minutes. The last few games, obviously we haven't had the lead and that's a position we're comfortable in."

Calgary cut the lead to 2-1 at 12:18 with their first power-play goal in 18 attempts, a backdoor tap-in by Mikael Backlund on a feed from Adam Ruzicka.

Mikheyev gave Vancouver a 3-1 lead at 19:32 of the second period with a chip shot over Markstrom's glove and under the crossbar.

Lindholm pulled the Flames to within 3-2 at 15:39 of the third period with a shot that beat Demko along the ice.

"We'd like to play with the lead, but it just seems to be that way right now, be down a lot and come back," Lindholm said. "We ran out of luck today. It's a dangerous game to play. We've got to come out better and be better in the first."

Zadorov had 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 177 games over parts of three seasons with the Flames, including six (one goal, five assists) in 21 games this season.

"Excited to have him," Hughes said. "Kind of a rare player that we haven't really had here and are fortunate to have. I thought he played great. It's not easy playing his first game here. I'm sure he had lots of emotions and whatnot. I'm sure he's excited to get back to Vancouver."

NOTES: Vancouver is 13-0-0 when leading after two periods. ... Calgary has allowed the first goal in six straight and 12 of the past 14 games. ... Canucks forward Brock Boeser has six points (four goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Hughes has 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in his past 16 games.