{"id":529548,"date":"2026-03-29T16:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/529548\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:27:15","slug":"few-highlights-to-focus-on-in-canucks-ugly-7-3-loss-to-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/529548\/","title":{"rendered":"Few highlights to focus on in Canucks\u2019 ugly 7-3 loss to Flames"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter what era the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> are in, losing to the Calgary Flames always stings.<\/p>\n

Years of key playoff battles, divisional tilts, and good old geography have turned that flaming red C into a symbol of hatred for Canucks fans. So, as much as it obviously behooves the team to keep dropping points, losing 7-3 at the Saddledome is always going to rub people the wrong way.<\/p>\n

The Flames could\u2019ve very easily phoned this game in. Sitting third last in the Western Conference<\/a>, they have just as much to gain as an organization from pooch punting this away. But instead, they took the Canucks to the absolute woodshed.<\/p>\n

After the game, Blake Coleman said that was kind of part of their plan.<\/p>\n

#Flames<\/a> Blake Coleman post-game \u201cwe might have a little mantra going about upsetting team tank\u201d<\/p>\n

The responses to it from Flames fans are weirdly negative. It\u2019s as if they\u2019re mad that a player, whose job depends on their ability not to lose games, isn\u2019t purposefully trying to lose games. As much fun as it was to \u201cblame\u201d Andrei Kuzmenko\u2019s late-game and late-season heroics for the Canucks losing out on Connor Bedard in 2023, sometimes it\u2019s good to get a refresher in the old \u201cplayers don\u2019t tank, franchises do\u201d department. Especially when you\u2019re watching a team like the Canucks languishing in last place. Thankfully, when your team simply isn\u2019t good enough to win a lot of games, that debate dies pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

In fact, that only makes the replies from Flames Nation<\/a> (#notsponsored) even funnier! You didn\u2019t actually think you were going to successfully lose a Tank Bowl when your opponent is the 2025-26 Canucks, did you?!<\/p>\n

If you read the last Stanchies, you\u2019ll know the Canucks played some baaaaad hockey against the LA Kings. On Saturday, they found a different way to lose. They actually dominated the Flames in the momentum department, got a lot of shots on goal (including quite a few high danger ones) and genuinely might\u2019ve flipped the result on a different day.<\/p>\n

Just look at that gameflow line. How many times has a Canucks game this year had the seesaw tipped in Vancouver\u2019s direction?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But they still left with zero points because they made key mistakes at soul-crushing times. Giveaways at the blue line, big rebounds let out at inopportune times, and a general lack of situational awareness that made this game a unique flavour of unwatchable.<\/p>\n

The best news this result brought is that we\u2019re only ten games away from the end.<\/p>\n

Soak these last few weeks of chaos in. From a safe distance away.<\/p>\n

Best Story In Three Parts<\/p>\n

Good to see we’re off to a good start. \ud83d\udc4d
\n#canucks<\/a><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take too long for the Canucks to start falling apart at the seams.<\/p>\n

First, Evander Kane takes a puck over glass penalty just one minute into the contest. Not exactly the way you\u2019d wanna start Game #999.<\/p>\n

The Flames\u2019 power play couldn\u2019t get anything going right away, so Matt Coronato tried a big brain: shooting the puck a couple of seconds after the whistle blew. A foolproof plan, unless P-O Joseph is on the ice of course.<\/p>\n

He was, and Joseph gave Coronato the business for it.<\/p>\n

The message is clear: Don\u2019t shoot pucks at our goalie!<\/p>\n

But Coronato would ignore that warning right after the penalty expired, when Nikita Tolopilo kicked out a Zayne Parekh rebound right into Coronato\u2019s wheelhouse. The Harvard graduate(?) bent to one knee and ripped the rebound home for an early lead.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t really need to play out the rest of the game. Let\u2019s hit the movie theatre instead. I hear Project Hail Mary is good.<\/p>\n

Curtis Douglas is now only a goal and an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat-trick. #Canucks<\/a><\/p>\n

We finally got the moment fans have asked for since Curtis Douglas arrived in Vancouver, and I gotta be honest: it was not worth the wait.<\/p>\n

I might not be the biggest proponent of fighting in hockey, but as long as it\u2019s still in the game, they should at least be more entertaining than this. That wasn\u2019t a heavyweight fight; that was two large children wrestling and trying their hardest not to fall over.<\/p>\n

If you disagree, go watch Dave Manson vs. Scott Stevens at the Chicago Stadium, then come back to this one.<\/p>\n

This would end up being a rough outing for Nikita Tolopilo, and I can\u2019t help but feel partially responsible. I (and a lot of other people, to be fair) have been clamouring for Adam Foote to give Tolo some more starts down the stretch. After all, these games are meaningless, so you might as well give your young goaltender some starts down the stretch to get up to speed with NHL competition.<\/p>\n

Well, that turned out to be bad advice, because he got thrown to the Dustin Wolves today. But very few Canucks looked good tonight.<\/p>\n

The Flames\u2019 second goal was created by a truly dreadful giveaway at the blue line by Fil Hronek to Mikael Backlund. The Calgary captain worked the puck around the boards to Zach Whitecloud, who floated the puck on goal as Joel Farabee got inside positioning on Zeev Buium a little too easily. One deflection later, and it\u2019s 2-zip for the Flames.<\/p>\n

This one isn\u2019t on Tolo specifically, but a few down the road will be.<\/p>\n

Best \u2018He Barely Touched Him!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canucks nearly got a goal back quickly, thanks in large part to Vittorio Mancini bulldozing Zayne Parekh into his own goaltender. With Wolf down, Brock Boeser lifted the puck clean over him.<\/p>\n

A coach\u2019s challenge quickly wiped this one off the board. Oh, so we can\u2019t just check defenders into the goalie now? I thought this was a free country!<\/p>\n

Adam Foote made the tough decision to split up the BR\u00d6 Line tonight, and Liam \u00d6hgren found himself on Elias Pettersson\u2019s wing with Linus Karlsson for a new set of Tre Kronor. And this goal was the direct result of a gorgeous play by EP40.<\/p>\n

First, Petey intercepts a Kevin Bahl zone exit attempt, and then draws him in towards the boards just long enough for Karlsson and \u00d6hgren to get a step. As soon as Bahl gets too close, Petey perfectly places a between-the-legs pass on Karlsson\u2019s stick.<\/p>\n

All Karlsson had to do was get the pass cleanly across to \u00d6hgren, and they made no mistake.<\/p>\n

Things started out a bit rocky, but now they\u2019re leading in shots and seemingly getting back on track. Maybe this game will be different!<\/p>\n

both Buium and Willander have been on wrong end of their guys tipping home goals tonight. Need some of the fire they showed late in the game the other night when clearing out the crease<\/p>\n

The Flames\u2019 third goal was essentially a carbon copy of their second, if it were flipped to the opposite corner and didn\u2019t start with a giveaway. Puck works up to Olli Maatta as Ryan Strome (who\u2019s a Flame now apparently?) gets inside position on Tom Willander, and is ready to tip the puck past Tolopilo\u2019s glove side.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, these are the kinds of lessons it\u2019s better to learn now instead of when it matters in big moments down the road. The more mistakes made now, theoretically, the less you\u2019ll see from them whenever the next contention window opens up. I imagine this\u2019ll be a big talking point in the video room before they face Vegas.<\/p>\n

Best SURELY it can\u2019t get worse?<\/p>\n

Foote\u2019s never going to play Tolopilo again lol<\/p>\n

Tolopilo looked worse after not playing for two weeks, some bad bounces but also looked like a goalie who hasn’t seen game action in a while<\/p>\n

This was Tolo\u2019s softest goal allowed. The Flames are swarming and sending the Canucks\u2019 backcheckers into panic mode, and Ryan Strome\u2019s initial shot is blockered away by the big Belarusian, but he redirects it right into the slot. And Olli Maata picked a perfect time to pinch, poking the puck in from behind an unsuspecting Hronek.<\/p>\n

Tolopilo just never looked comfortable in the net in this game. He had trouble getting clean stops, and there were a lot of Grade A rebounds that a better team probably would\u2019ve pounced on more. But when you\u2019ve gone two weeks between starts, it\u2019s harder to stay up to game speed. Consistent reps are crucial. And there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ll need him to play some games next season, so let\u2019s maybe give him another opportunity a bit sooner next time?<\/p>\n

#Canucks<\/a> are the first team this season to surpass 100 goals allowed in the second period. No other team has hit 90 this year.<\/p>\n

I feel like Adam\u2019s KierszenStats have taken a real dark turn this year.<\/p>\n

Anyways, Kevin Lankinen couldn\u2019t get a full night off. And the Flames immediately put him to the test in the worst way possible, like when you\u2019d get back to class from spring break and your math teacher immediately threw a pop quiz on your desk.<\/p>\n

Matt Coronato chips the puck near the blue line to Morgan Frost streaking through the middle under pressure from Blueger. Teddy does a good enough job backchecking not to let him get an open shot, so Frost goes to the short side on his backhand. But Kevin was so not ready for it and left far too much room open between his glove side and the post.<\/p>\n

Maybe whoever\u2019s in net wasn\u2019t the problem. Maybe the real mistake was playing hockey today in general.<\/p>\n

Canucks letting the Flames win to worsen their pick<\/p>\n

As it turns out, Blake Coleman and his teammates were simply playing 3D chess, which I think in layman\u2019s terms is called \u2018chess\u2019.<\/p>\n

Now watch them win the draft lottery anyway, because we can\u2019t have anything nice!<\/p>\n

Best Almost A Goal Scorer<\/p>\n

The only thing that makes my heart beat is a blessed Boeser Goal #canucks<\/a><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t even feel anything anymore when the #canucks give up a goal. #numb<\/p>\n

Stand down. It has been credited to DeBrusk.<\/p>\n

Sherwood still co-leader.<\/p>\n

Brock Boeser scores his 18th goal of the season.<\/p>\n

Kiefer Sherwood is no longer the
\n#Canucks co-leading goal scorer.<\/p>\n

Brock Boeser lost two goals in this game. The first was because Victor Mancini committed *checks notes* textbook goalie interference. The second was thanks to Jake DeBrusk cruelly stealing it from him.<\/p>\n

With Kevin Bahl in the penalty box, Elias Pettersson (the only one playing in this game, just so we\u2019re clear) caught the Flames\u2019 penalty kill completely napping. By the time Yegor Sharangovich realized his unit\u2019s mistake, the Flow was already labelling the puck for the net.<\/p>\n

The replay doesn\u2019t fully catch it, but apparently DeBrusk got a piece of the puck on its way through, because the goal had been credited to him by the time the team returned for the third period.<\/p>\n

Which means the Canucks\u2019 leading goal scorer, as of March 29th, is still a player who left the team months ago.<\/p>\n

Hi Kiefer! How are you enjoying San Jose?<\/p>\n

The Flames are already up by three, in a game that has zero real implications on the standings for anyone in a positive way. We can just mail this in so no one gets their feelings hurt, right?<\/p>\n

But no, these are the Flames facing an archrival. So Zayne Parkeh polished off the second period with a nasty goal that hit the top shelf netting so perfectly, the puck reacted like he went bar down.<\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t have to do \u2019em like that, Zayne. The Canucks have families.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The third period was a clinic put on by both teams. The lesson they\u2019re teaching together is \u201cHow to make it look like you\u2019re playing hockey without actually doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up until the final few minutes, I had exactly one thing worth clipping, and it was a highlight pack of half-decent saves from Lankinen.<\/p>\n

You know you\u2019re no longer watching an entertaining game when you have to gas up a breakaway save on Adam Klapka, who set his personal scoring high last season with six goals. We\u2019re really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.<\/p>\n

Best Worth the Game Enitrely<\/p>\n

Nils H\u00f6glander made this game worth the struggle all in one beautiful late power play shift. Up to this point, H\u00f6glander had barely cracked five minutes of ice time because Adam Foote has his mysterious reasons. Sure, he hasn\u2019t been super effective in the time he\u2019s gotten, but it\u2019s not like stapling him to the bench in a lost contest does anyone any good.<\/p>\n

So imagine the laugh we all got when H\u00f6glander gets a shift late on the power play, and in a pursuit of the puck, absolutely decks unsuspecting referee Graham Skilliter into next week.<\/p>\n

If there was a sound effect added to this hit, I think it would be \u201cBOOF!!\u201d<\/p>\n

With Skilliter unable to call a penalty due to not getting the license plate of the bus that just ran him over, H\u00f6glander has enough time to get to the front of the net and deflect Victor Mancini\u2019s shot, cutting the Calgary lead in half.<\/p>\n

I cannot stress enough that there was less than a GIFs length of time between H\u00f6ggy trucking the ref and scoring a goal. If that kind of energy can\u2019t make Adam Foote\u2019s heart grow three sizes this day, nothing ever will.<\/p>\n

Best Salt in the Wound, with Rusty Nails<\/p>\n

With the game well within reach (citation needed), Adam Foote attempted to pull Lankinen for the final four and a half minutes of play. But Marco Rossi eventually had to hook Sharangovich to prevent an easy scoring chance, which meant a Calgary penalty and Lankinen returning to the goal<\/p>\n

But unsatisfied with beating the Canucks by three goals, the Flames had one final mean trick up their sleeve. And that was an admittedly well-executed give-and-go between Adam Klapka and Brennan Othmann.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry for referring to his six-goal personal high earlier, it clearly struck a nerve.<\/p>\n

But hey, the Canucks won the expected goals category 2.96 to Calgary\u2019s 1.76, so who are the real winners tonight? That\u2019s what gets you respect in the handshake line, baby.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No matter what era the Vancouver Canucks are in, losing to the Calgary Flames always stings. Years of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5128],"tags":[894,5,4,893,27,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-529548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver-canucks","8":"tag-canucks","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-vancouver","12":"tag-vancouver-canucks","13":"tag-vancouvercanucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116313407934458398","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}