Flames 3, Canucks 2 (OT)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Calgary left winger Johnny Gaudreau forced a turnover at the Vancouver Canucks' blue line and beat goaltender Ryan Miller at 3:03 of overtime to give the Flames a 3-2 win at Rogers Arena on Saturday night.
The goal came barely two minutes after Calgary goaltender Jonas Hiller robbed Daniel Sedin on his doorstep 45 seconds into the extra period, using the new 3-on-3 format introduced this season.
Calgary defenseman Dougie Hamilton opened scoring in the first period with a power-play goal from the faceoff dot that caught Miller cheating to the near post five minutes into the game.
Vancouver center Bo Horvat took advantage of a goalmouth scramble 12 seconds into a Canucks power play to roof the puck over the shoulder of Calgary goaltender Jonas Hiller to make it 1-1 at 2:03 of the second period.
It was the first power-play point in the NHL for Horvat, who played on the Canucks' little-used second power-play unit much of last season.
Vancouver defenseman Ben Hutton, a surprise roster player after a strong preseason, assisted on Horvat's goal, giving him two assists in two games.
Canucks center Jared McCann put Vancouver up 2-1 with his first NHL goal in his second game, beating Hiller high over his glove from the inside hash marks at 11:33 of the second period.
Both Horvat, 20, and McCann, 19, had their parents in attendance.
Vancouver left winger Daniel Sedin threw a couple of rare punches during a 5-on-5 scrum at the Canucks' bench in the second period.
The melee began before a faceoff when Sedin tripped Calgary right winger Brandon Bollig, who got up and responded with a cross check to Sedin's chest.
Once the puck was dropped, Calgary defenseman Deryk Engelland ran Sedin, and everyone on the ice got involved in the pushing-and-shoving scrum.
Sedin, Bollig and Engelland all got two-minute roughing penalties.
Calgary, who last season won 10 times when trailing after two periods, tied the game 2-2 at 8:49 of the third period, outshooting Vancouver 8-2 by that point of the frame.
Gaudreau hustled into the Vancouver zone on a dump-in, caused a turnover that went to center Sean Monahan, who spun and beat Miller to pull the Flames even.
Hiller stopped 28 of 30 shots for Calgary, while Miller stopped 35 of 38.
NOTES: Canucks D Alex Edler did not dress because of illness. D Yannick Weber played in his stead. Vancouver was also without LW Chris Higgins (foot) and G Jakob Markstrom (hamstring). RW Jake Virtanen was a healthy scratch. ... Calgary G Jonas Hiller replaced G Karri Ramo in goal, while LW Mason Raymond, who was a healthy scratch on Wednesday, replaced C Josh Jooris. C Joe Colborne (thumb), D Ladislav Smid (neck) and D T.J. Brodie (broken hand) didn't dress for the Flames. ... This was the eighth straight meeting between the two teams going back to last spring's playoffs. Calgary won that first-round Stanley Cup series 4-2, while the Canucks won the season opener at Calgary 5-1 on Wednesday. ... No Canadian NHL team has dressed fewer teens than the Canucks since club president Trevor Linden played as an 18-year-old after being drafted No. 2 overall in 1988. But there are two 19-year-old rookies on the Canucks roster, and sophomore Bo Horvat recently turned 20. ... When the Flames went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill on Wednesday in their home opener against Vancouver, it marked the first time Calgary had a perfect penalty kill in its opener since 2001-02.