Lindholm, Tkachuk lead Calgary Flames in 4-1 win over Vancouver Canucks

May 13, 2021 | 9:07 PM

CALGARY — Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist for the Calgary Flames in a 4-1 win Thursday over the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Rasmus Andersson and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Flames (24-26-3). 

Johnny Gaudreau had two assists. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves for the win.

Matthew Highmore scored for Vancouver (21-28-3) with Thatcher Demko turning away 24 shots in the loss.

Calgary and Vancouver will finish outside the playoffs in the NHL’s North Division. 

The two clubs meet three more times starting Sunday while NHL playoff series get underway.

Calgary and Vancouver are making up games lost when COVID-19 swept through the Canucks and suspended their season for three weeks.

The Flames and Canucks cap their seasons Wednesday on the same day the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets open their first-round playoff series.

The Canucks also play in Edmonton on Saturday for the Oilers’ regular-season finale. Calgary leads the season series against Vancouver 5-2.

Tkachuk was credited with a Canucks own-goal at 16:37 of the third period. J.T. Miller reached to redirect the puck and ended up chipping it over Demko’s shoulder.

Vancouver’s Jimmy Vesey took a double minor for unsportsmanlike conduct with four minutes remaining in the game.

Lindholm scored on a breakaway at 15:33. Defenceman Chris Tanev head-manned the puck to Tkachuk, who chipped it to a streaking Lindholm.

A diving Demko robbed defenceman Oliver Kylington with a glove save on a Flames odd-man rush in a scoreless second period.

Mangiapane tipped a Nikita Nesterov shot from the blue-line off the post and in at 5:17 of the first period for a 2-1 Flames lead.

From behind the goal-line, Gaudreau dished the puck out front for Andersson to roof at 3:36.

Highmore scored his first as a Canuck on Vancouver’s first shot of the game 62 seconds after the opening faceoff. 

The 25-year-old from Halifax tipped a Travis Hamonic shot by Markstrom.

Notes: Gaudreau has six goals and 11 assists in his last 13 games . . . Vancouver’s Brock Boeser has four goals and six assists in his last 10 . . . Calgary was without top centre Sean Monahan, whose season was shut down this week because of a hip injury requiring surgery . . . Tanev was an assistant captain in Monahan’s absence . . . Mangiapane, Flames teammate Dillon Dube and Canucks goaltender Mike DiPietro will play for Canada at the men’s world hockey championship in Riga, Latvia starting May 21.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2021.

The Canadian Press