Ryan Huska summed up his club’s Saturday night in Vancouver succinctly.
“They scored on the power play and we didn’t,” said the Flames coach, as he’s said so many times throughout this season.
“That’s always the difference here — penalty kill, power play.
“When you’re playing tight-checking games, and there’s not a lot of room on the ice, that will be the difference almost 100 per cent of the time.”
The Flames’ 30th-ranked power play is one of the biggest reasons the lads are now all but officially playing out the string.
A 4-2 loss in Vancouver saw the Flames press hard late in a one-goal game, only to see the Canucks seal the deal with a power-play goal in the final three minutes that put the hosts up 3-1 and ended any hopes of a Calgary comeback.
“We have a few grade A’s with a few minutes left, and then they get a power play and the game is over,” said Rasmus Andersson, whose goal late in the second period halved the Canucks' lead to 2-1.
“If our power play gets one, we’re right in it.
“Frustrating, especially after the first 10 minutes we played well enough to win.”
By going 0-for-2 with the man advantage, it marked the 11th time in their last 17 games the Flames power play was held scoreless.
Sitting at 14.5 per cent on the season, the Flames power play is successful exactly half as often as the league-leading Lightning.
A few more takeaways from Saturday’s loss, which saw the Flames drop to 12 points back of the last wild-card spot:
WELCOME BACK
Connor Zary returned to the lineup for the first time since March 2, returning to his usual spot alongside Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil.
His ability to hold onto the puck and make plays backfired midway through the second period when he caught several of his teammates off guard by chipping a puck back to Nazem Kadri that missed its target and caught Oliver Kylington flat footed as Nils Hoglander was sent in alone for his second goal of the night.
It turned a 1-0 game into a 2-0 deficit the Flames couldn’t rebound from, offering the Flames rookie sensation another learning moment.
Zary returned to the second power-play unit, but got no shots on goal on a night that saw the Flames go 0-for-2 with the man advantage. Understandable rust.
Jacob Markstrom started for the Flames for the first time since March 9 and gave his club a chance to linger.
Ultimately, he was beaten for three of the Canucks four goals, on 25 shots.
He will undoubtedly give way to Dustin Wolf on Sunday, when the Buffalo Sabres visit the Saddledome.
How the team divides up the remaining 13 starts will be one of the more interesting storylines as the Flames play out the string.
FAMILIAR FACES
The game marked a good chance for Flames fans to see Elias Lindholm in Canucks colours for the first time against his old team.
It hasn’t been a very successful transition to the west coast for the 29-year-old centre since being traded by the Flames on Feb. 1 for a first-round pick, a conditional fourth, Andrei Kuzmenko and prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo.
Lindholm had a quiet night in just over 15 minutes of ice time but did manage to score into an empty net in the final minute, his first in over a month.
In 22 games as a Canuck, Lindholm has just five goals and four assists, with only 31 shots on goal while playing on the third line (with Sam Lafferty and Ilya Mikheyev Saturday). On one of the league’s best teams, the highly-regarded two-way centre is minus-5.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet spoke openly during the week about how Lindholm has been fighting through an injury that has curtailed his effectiveness of late. Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday the team will seek more clarity on Lindholm’s ailment next week.
Kuzmenko has also had trouble regaining the touch that saw him score 39 goals with the Canucks last year, scoring five goals and adding three assists in 16 games with the Flames.
Flames fans also got another look at Nikita Zadorov, who had three hits, including a solid one on Martin Pospisil late in the evening.
Paired with Noah Juulsen on the third pairing, Zadorov has five goals and seven assists in 43 games with Vancouver, adding a physicality that should serve the Canucks well in the playoffs.
As popular as he was in Calgary, Flames fans take solace in the fact the big Russian netted the Flames a third-rounder in 2026 and a fifth-rounder this summer.
There were whispers the Canucks looked at flipping the two former Flames before the trade deadline, but both will play depth roles on a team now tied for tops in the NHL with the New York Rangers.
Neither former Flame has a contract for next year, as both will soon be unrestricted free agents in search of raises.
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