3 takeaways from the Canucks’ 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames last night

After snapping a six-game losing streak on Saturday night, the Vancouver Canucks carried over their momentum into last night’s 4-3 loss to the Flames.

Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period but subsequently gave up three straight goals before Brock Boeser tied the game with less than a minute remaining in regulation.

Just when it seemed like the Canucks had a chance to steal two points, however, Johnny Gaudreau scored on a Calgary power play just 23 seconds into overtime.

Coming away with one point is obviously better than nothing, but Vancouver had a golden opportunity to win a second straight game before sloppy plays ended up costing them a victory. Here are three takeaways from last night’s 4-3 loss to the Flames.

Stifling penalty kill

At the beginning of the season, the Canucks’ penalty kill was causing lots of concern amongst fans, and rightfully so. The team was bleeding scoring chances left and right, and it was obvious that Chris Tanev’s departure left a gaping hole on the special teams unit.

More from The Canuck Way

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Fortunately, Vancouver seems to have fixed a lot of their early-season issues. Before Gaudreau scored on the power play in overtime last night, the Canucks had killed almost 20 straight penalties, and have been especially dominant on home ice.

The four-man unit prevented Calgary from setting up in Vancouver’s zone and often generated chances the other way, which was a nice change of pace from the porous play we saw just a few weeks ago.

Let’s hope the team can maintain their stifling penalty kill while they continue working on improving some defensive issues at even strength.

Is Nate Schmidt cursed?

Contrary to what many fans might think, Nate Schmidt has actually been one of, if not the most consistent Canucks defender this season.

Unfortunately for him, his mistakes have also been magnified the most.

Just a few games ago, he scored an own goal when the puck deflected off of Jordie Benn before bouncing off Schmidt into a wide-open Canucks goal. An even more memorable gaffe happened last night when he tried a pass from behind his own net, which hit Thatcher Demko and gifted Dillon Dube a free goal.

The play was extremely reminiscent of Steve Smith’s famous own goal during game seven of the 1986 Smythe Division Finals, and it’s safe to say Schmidt will have nightmares about the incident for a while. Again, he’s been one of the Canucks’ most consistent performers this year, so there’s no need to worry about his play.

Also, the Oilers won the cup a year after Smith’s own goal. Just saying.