Canucks 4, Flames 2: Tight, defensive win for playoff-bound Vancouver

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To win in the playoffs, you have to be as tight as can be defensively.

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To win on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames, the Vancouver Canucks were just that.

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The Canucks won 4-2 because they didn’t give much away and when they did, their goalie stood tall and the defencemen in front of him did well to simply limit chances.

Of course, against a limping squad like the Flames, the Canucks could have made life a little easier for themselves by scoring another goal or two earlier in the game, but the bottom line is they were pressed defensively and didn’t break.

They iced the game nicely on a late third period power play, finally picking the corner of Jacob Markström’s net.

Notably, Saturday’s win was the eighth time in nine games the Canucks have yielded just two goals or less.

Off the jump

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It’s always impressive to score a goal in the game’s first minute.

It’s even more impressive to do so when it’s actually the second shift of the game.

That’s the nice little truth of Nils Höglander’s game-opening goal: he’d been on the ice for 11 seconds when he deftly finished off a lovely two-pass sequence from Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland.

Nice head fake

Höglander’s second goal came with a hint of Pavel Bure as he made a head-fake on approach, then move left then right in dekeing out Markström.

No Cole again

Ian Cole missed his second game in a row, presumably with the same minor ailment that kept him out of the lineup Thursday.

Whatever it is, it’s not bothering Cole much: he skated in practice on Friday and in Saturday’s morning skate and was in pretty good spirits on Friday after practice.

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He did get a shot off

Jonathan Huberdeau looked like he wanted a penalty shot off Vasily Podkolzin’s slashing penalty on him midway through the second period, but no dice.

He got a decent shot off and the standard for calling a penalty shot is supposed to be being denied a chance to score.

In similar fashion, Miller was fouled as he out battled Oliver Kylington for a loose puck that was sliding down the ice in the third. And while he was clear of Kylington when he collected the puck, it’s hard to say it was a true breakaway.

Playoff picture

One more win or one more Calgary loss will guarantee the Canucks will finish top four in the division, but that still isn’t quite enough to secure a full playoff spot: the St. Louis Blues remain in the frame.

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The Canucks now have 98 points. The Blues have just 79 points and have no real hope of catching the fourth-placed team in the Central Division, the Nashville Predators, but they do have a chance of catching the fourth-placed team in the Pacific Division in points, including the Canucks, should they somehow start losing on end. And if they did finish the season with more points than the fourth-placed team in the Pacific, they’d take over the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

The truth is that St. Louis’ margin of error is very, very fine. They won on Saturday afternoon to keep themselves in the picture and could still get to 101 points should they win all 11 remaining games.

But one more Canucks win (say on Monday vs. Los Angeles), coupled with a St. Louis loss (say on Monday vs. Vegas) will end this scenario.

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