Giordano's two goals ignite Flames in 4-1 win
CALGARY, Alberta -- Mark Giordano scored twice to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Mikael Backlund had a goal and two assists for the Flames (18-16-2), who bounced back from a 4-1 road loss to the San Jose Sharks three nights earlier.
Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-net goal, and Michael Frolik and Dougie Hamilton chipped in with two assists each.
Calgary goaltender Brian Elliott made 13 saves to post his second straight win while improving his record to 5-9-1.
Although Elliott didn't face many shots in the game, he made a nice blocker save to deny a scoring attempt by Vancouver center Brandon Sutter midway through the third period.
Russian defenseman Nikita Tryamkin scored the lone goal for the Canucks (14-18-3), who also lost 4-1 to the Winnipeg Jets one night earlier at home in Vancouver.
Tryamkin has scored both of his NHL goals at the Saddledome in losses. His other goal came April 7 during a 7-3 setback to the Flames.
Vancouver netminder Jacob Markstrom did his best to keep his team in the game as he stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced.
Although Calgary outshot Vancouver 16-5 in the first period, the Canucks had the game's first goal at 11:35 when Tryamkin scored a fluky goal.
Tryamkin's point shot deflected off Flames right winger Kris Versteeg and bounced up in the air and over Elliott, who had no idea where the puck went.
Markstrom made several nice saves in the first period, including three on Johnny Gaudreau, who had his best chance to score with 1:32 remaining in the period.
Gaudreau sped into the Vancouver zone and let go a heavy wrist shot that Markstrom stopped with his right shoulder.
Flames right winger Troy Brouwer left the game late in the first period with a hand injury after being hit by Versteeg's dump-in from the neutral zone.
The Flames continued to outplay the Canucks in the second period and were rewarded with Giordano's two goals and another off the stick of Backlund.
Giordano took a pass from Backlund and snapped a shot past Markstrom for a power-play goal at 2:34 before tapping in a rebound for a short-handed goal at 11:15.
Backlund then backhanded a shot off Vancouver defenseman Alex Biega's skate and into the net behind Markstrom at 18:07 to put the Flames up 3-0.
NOTES: After a 4-1 loss in San Jose to the Sharks on Tuesday, the Flames made several roster moves. D Tyler Wotherspoon and RW Garnet Hathaway were inserted into the lineup in place of D Jyrki Jokipakka and LW Lance Bouma. ... C Freddie Hamilton was Calgary's other healthy scratch. ... Canucks RW Jannik Hansen left during the second period of Vancouver's 4-1 loss on home ice to the Winnipeg Jets with a knee injury. Winnipeg C Mathieu Perreault was assessed a kneeing penalty on the play and after the game Canucks captain Herik Sedin said, "It was a dirty hit for sure. It's something we can't have in this league." ... RW Anton Rodin made his NHL debut in Hansen's absence. Rodin was recalled from a conditioning stint from the AHL's Utica Comets on Thursday. ... C Brendan Gaunce drew back into Vancouver's lineup after sitting out the past five games. ... Vancouver's healthy scratches were C Jayson Megna and D Andrey Pedan.