Hughes has assist in return, Canucks defeat Flames in shootout

CALGARY -- Conor Garland scored the shootout winner, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied to a 4-3 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday.

Garland took the puck wide left before snapping a shot by Dustin Wolf's glove in the bottom of the fourth round of the shootout. His goal came after Kevin Lankinen stopped Yegor Sharangovich's deke with his left pad.

"It's huge," Canucks forward Elias Pettersson said. "Huge for our group. Just battled. Everybody did. And the effort. To be able to come back is good. Hopefully we can build on this."

Pettersson had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk and Pius Suter scored for the Canucks (30-24-11), who had lost two straight and four of six, including a 4-2 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. Lankinen made 20 saves.

"Obviously a really important game," Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes said. "A very excited group. Individually, really fun to get back into the swing of things and feel confident in my body. A big win tonight. Really excited for our team. We've just got to keep climbing."

Hughes had an assist and played a game-high 29:48 in his return after missing four games with a lower-body injury.

"I haven't really felt great over the past month but I'm really thankful for the medical group we have,” said Hughes. "I'm sure they're sick and tired of me, but it's really fun to get back and as the next couple games come down start to get my legs and condition and hands and stuff where I'm feeling like I did before I left."

Jonathan Huberdeau scored two goals, Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist, and MacKenzie Weegar had two assists for Calgary (30-23-11), which has points in five straight (2-0-3). Wolf made 28 saves.

"This is the modern-day NHL. No lead is really safe," Kadri said. "Every team's capable of a comeback. It's unfortunate to let it slide, but we'll take the point."

The Canucks and Flames have both either held the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference or the first spot outside the playoffs since Dec. 29. Each team has 71 points.

"Both teams know we're going at each other," Pettersson said. "We're tied in points. They have one game in hand. It's going to be tight all the way to the last game. Every game matters. Every point matters."

Pettersson tied it 3-3 at 13:16 of the third period when he put a rebound by Wolf after he made the initial stop on Victor Mancini's point shot.

"He's an excellent, excellent player," Hughes said. "You don't get to where he's at as a player and person without being competitive and having inner drive. It's been a tough go for him this year but for him to show up the way he has the last couple games, that's big-time. We're going to continue to need him to do it."

Suter put Vancouver up 1-0 at 13:33 of the first period. His initial one-timer was blocked by Joel Hanley, but his second attempt deflected off Hanley's skate and by Wolf.

Kadri tied it 1-1 at 17:53 with a deke by Lankinen's right pad after being sprung on a partial breakaway by a stretch pass from Rasmus Andersson.

"Just a great stretch pass by 'Razzy,'" Kadri said. "Just tried to build some speed through the middle of the ice. He bit pretty hard on the fake and I just tried to take it to my forehand. It was a big goal in the game."

DeBrusk gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 10:32 of the second period when he tipped Hughes' point shot by Wolf's glove on the power play.

Huberdeau tied the game 2-2 at 13:58 when he chipped a pass from Kevin Rooney over Lankinen's left pad on a short-handed 2-on-0 and put Calgary ahead 3-2 at 16:01 with a wrist shot over Lankinen's right shoulder on the power play.

"I think getting that lead going into the third, we're used to that, and we just had to shut them down, especially on a back-to-back," Huberdeau said. "It [stinks]. We got a point. At the end of the day against these guys you've got to get two points."

NOTES: Flames captain Mikael Backlund left the game in the first period because of an upper-body injury. There was no update postgame. … Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson left the game after the first period because of an undisclosed injury. There was no update postgame. … The win is Vancouver's first this season when trailing after two periods. They had been 0-19-4.