VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks waited until the third period to solve Calgary goalie Devin Cooley, then buried the Flames with four unanswered goals for a 4-1 win Saturday at Rogers Arena.
Liam Ohgren drove the comeback with a goal and an assist, while defenseman Elias Pettersson, Drew O’Connor and Aatu Raty also scored for Vancouver. Leevi Merilainen stopped 23 shots in his first Canucks start after Vancouver claimed him off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 25.
The Canucks improved to 2-1-0. Calgary fell to 0-2-0 after opening its season with a 6-1 loss against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Third-period surge turns the game
Matt Coronato gave Calgary the early edge, beating Merilainen on a first-period power play. At 14:51, Coronato snapped a wrist shot over the goalie’s blocker for a 1-0 Flames lead.
Vancouver’s response arrived quickly in the third. Ohgren tied it 1-1 just 1:28 into the period after Cooley made the first save on his rush redirection. Ohgren stayed with the loose puck and nudged the rebound beneath Cooley’s blocker arm.
The goal was waved off initially, but video review showed the puck had crossed the line through the webbing of Cooley’s glove.
Ohgren was back on the scoresheet shortly afterward. He found Elias Pettersson stepping down from the left point, and the defenseman took the pass near the faceoff dot before slipping a backhand under Cooley’s glove to put Vancouver ahead 2-1.
Pettersson’s hit sparks insurance goal
Center Elias Pettersson helped create the decisive breathing room at 16:33. His heavy neutral-zone hit on Calgary defenseman Zayne Parekh started a 2-on-1 break, and O’Connor finished it with a wrist shot over Cooley’s glove for a 3-1 lead.
Raty sealed the result 43 seconds later, sending the puck into the empty Calgary net.
Cooley finished with 22 saves for the Flames. Vancouver defenseman Tom Willander and forward Linus Karlsson each recorded two assists in the victory.
