CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.
“I like to score when our team’s winning,” Boeser said. “It feels so much better when you do that.
“Just for our team to play a complete game tonight, it’s huge for us.”
Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller also scored and had an assist for Vancouver. Defenseman Jordie Benn and Nate Schmidt also scored for the Canucks, who improved to 2-3-1 against the the Flames this season.
Braden Holtby stopped 35 of 36 shots for his first win since Jan. 28.
Andrew Mangiapane scored for Calgary (8-7-1). Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots in his seventh straight start and 14th in Calgary’s 16 games this season.
Markstrom’s been Calgary’s best player so far this season. But after allowing five goals on 29 shots, he was replaced by David Rittich near the eight-minute mark of the third period. Rittich stopped the four shots he faced.
“It’s nice to get rewarded for the chances we had tonight,” Horvat said. “Marky stood on his head a lot against us.
“To finally put a couple past him and get rewarded for a lot of our hard work and our chances tonight, it definitely gives our group confidence.”
The game was the last of four straight between the teams. Calgary won two of three in Vancouver, the last in overtime Monday night.
The Flames have led after the first period in just five of their 16 games this season. Head coach Geoff Ward was frustrated by his team’s inconsistency.
”“It’s time to put this thing to bed, take charge and take control of what we can,” Ward said.
“We certainly can control the way we start, we certainly can control how we pay attention to details, how hard we compete, how much we care.
“All those things are certainly within our control.”
NOTES: Flames center Mikael Backlund was back in the lineup after sitting out Monday’s 4-3 overtime win in Vancouver with a lower-body injury. … Horvat has 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in his last 16 games.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host Winnipeg Friday and Sunday nights.
Flames: Host Edmonton on Friday night in opener of two-day, home-and-home set.
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