Canucks: 3 takeaways from 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames

The battle between the pipes

Despite blowing yet another lead in the opening frame, the Canucks were actually able to bounce back pretty well in the second period.

The team came out flying for the first half of the middle frame, playing with much more intensity and energy than we saw in the first 20 minutes. They peppered Flames’ goaltender Jacob Markstrom with eight shots on net before his team could even register one, and were able to produce some quality, albeit fairly low-danger scoring chances.

The Flames bounced back in the latter half of the period, but Demko was just as dialled in between the pipes as his former teammate at the other end of the ice, keeping the score at 2-1.

Demko wasn’t as busy as he normally was during the middle frame, only facing ten shots total, but still had to come up with key saves here and there, including this glove save robbery on

Oscar

Oliver Kylington:

But, as expected, the team broke down defensively in front of Demko in the third period, allowing the Flames to throw 11 more high-quality, point-blank shots on net, with two of them getting past Demko in the dying moments of the contest.

There’s no doubt that Markstrom and Demko were the respective first stars on their rosters, with both netminders bailing out their team on multiple occasions, as well as keeping the game tightly-contested for the much of the 60 minutes of play.

The Flames, as expected, were able to produce some last-minute offensive heroics to come away with the two points, but it easily could’ve gone the other way if Vancouver found their scoring touch first.

Regardless of which team can eventually put more pucks in the back of the net over these next three contests, expect Demko and Markstrom to battle it out on a nightly basis. And boy, what a storyline that would be.