Canucks: A deeper dive into the 6-2 loss to the Calgary Flames

The Canucks entered the second period just as flat-footed as they were in the first, and ultimately gave up the fourth goal of the game because of it. They allowed the Flames to cycle the puck in their own end, and were unable to clear the zone when they had the chance. Eventually, the puck ended up on the stick of a wide open Brett Ritchie, who wristed the shot past Holtby in the slot.

Fortunately, the Canucks started to wake up after this, thanks in large part to their young guns.

Blueliner Jack Rathbone was easily the most noticeable Canucks players on the ice in the middle frame, building off of his strong performances so far.

The 22-year-old continued to showcase a combination of good defensive instincts and explosive offensive prowess, and was rewarded with a spot on the top powerplay unit throughout the night. Rathbone finished the night with one assist, one blocked shot and two shots on net over 21:17 of ice time. He spent 4:47 on the powerplay, and even posted just over 20 seconds on the penalty kill.

Forward Will Lockwood also continued his strong play from his NHL debut, logging just over 15 minutes of ice time in a bottom six role. The former University of Michigan winger isn’t afraid to showcase his talent and smooth hands in the offensive zone, and it was evident on Wednesday.

Halfway through the second period, Lockwood was able to make a slick play at the Calgary blueline, drawing a penalty against veteran Mark Giordano that would eventually lead to his team’s first tally of the night from the captain.

This was an encouraging sign for Lockwood, who not only provided his team with a much-needed powerplay, but also made amends for his penalty against Giordano on Tuesday, showing the coaching staff that he is able to learn quickly from previous mistakes.

And of course, you can’t talk about promising young guns without mentioning Nils Höglander.

The 20-year-old Swede was fairly quiet in the first period, but picked up his gameplay in the second period.

Shortly after Horvat’s powerplay goal, Höglander went to work. After teammate Brock Boeser wired a shot on former teammate Jacob Markstrom, Höglander was able to collect the rebound in front of the net. He worked the puck to a pinching Tyler Myers, who slid the puck back to Boeser at the point. Boeser fired a strong wrister on net, with the puck eventually finding the back of the net, thanks to a nifty tip from Miller.

Höglander wasn’t credited with an assist on the goal, but, as we’ve seen so often this past season, was instrumental in starting the play in the offensive zone.

With just over half of the game still remaining, fans were starting to panic, thinking that their team was about to embark on yet another come-from-behind victory that would only hurt them for the draft lottery.

Fortunately, Holtby made sure that didn’t happen.

Less than two minutes after the Miller goal, Holtby was once again beaten five-hole, this time from Tkachuk, who tallied his second goal of the game to put his team up 5-2.

The scoreline didn’t change entering the second intermission, with the only good scoring chance for the Canucks coming from Tyler Graovac. The 28-year-old was able to spring himself on a breakaway after capitalizing on a Flames’ misplay in the neutral zone. Graovac didn’t score on the play, but he was able to draw a penalty.

He finished the night with one shot on goal over 10:46 of ice time. Graovac, who was one of the better Canuck players down the stretch, also won 43% of his faceoffs taken, and spent just under four minutes on the powerplay.