Canucks, Flames renew hostilities in Calgary
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to get even with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday when the clubs meet for Game 4 of a Western Conference quarterfinal series at the Saddledome.
The Flames lead the best-of-seven set 2-1, taking Games 1 and 3 over the Canucks. Calgary picked up a 4-2 win Sunday at the Saddledome in the franchise's first home playoff game since 2009.
Sam Bennett, an 18-year-old rookie, and T.J. Brodie each tallied their first career postseason goals to help the Flames grab a two games to one lead in the series on Sunday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bennett's marker early in the third, the first goal of any kind in his NHL career, added some insurance at the time and proved to be the game-winner for the Flames. Bennett was the fourth overall pick at the 2014 draft and made his NHL debut on April 11 in Calgary's final game of the regular season.
Calgary was hosting its first playoff game since April 27, 2009 when it dropped the final test of a six-game series loss to Chicago. The Flames were 23-13-5 at the Saddledome during the 2014-15 regular season.
Jonas Hiller stopped 23 shots for the Flames on Sunday, while Brandon Bollig and Sean Monahan added goals.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shawn Matthias and Jannik Hansen lit the lamp for Vancouver. Eddie Lack made 23 saves in the loss.
The last two meetings of this series have been punctuated by physical play with Calgary and Vancouver combining for more than 200 penalty minutes over Games 2 and 3. The third game was a little more subdued compared to Game 2, but there still proved to be bad blood between these Canadian rivals.
Vancouver won Friday's home test at Rogers Arena by a 4-1 count, but it was the 166 penalty minutes combined between the two teams that captured headlines. Calgary coach Bob Hartley was also fined $50,000 for his responsibility in the brawl that occurred with just over a minute left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Sunday, Alexandre Burrows and Kris Russell were sent off late in the third after a fight that started when Burrows checked Johnny Gaudreau from behind. Burrows was also given a boarding penalty as well as an instigating minor for the play. Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa and Calgary's Michael Ferland then dropped the gloves with over a minute left as the Flames faithful were treated to more fisticuffs late in the contest.
"We had great momentum in the first period and we just kept battling back," Hartley said. "It was a physical game, we kept our composure and scored some timely goals."
On Monday, the NHL rescinded a one-game suspension issued to Burrows. Though Rule 46.22 subsequently calls for Burrows to be automatically suspended for one game as a result of instigating a fight in the final five minutes of regulation or in overtime, the league decided to erase the suspension based on the fact that the bout with Russell was "not related to the score, previous incidents in the game or prior games, retaliatory in nature or 'message sending.'"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Although Burrows was eligible to play in Game 4, the winger suffered an upper- body injury in practice on Tuesday morning and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. As a result, he will not play in tonight's contest.
Lack has started all three games of this series over veteran goaltender Ryan Miller and is expected to get the call again tonight. Miller missed over a month with a knee injury suffered in late February before returning to play in Vancouver's regular-season finale on April 11.
The 27-year-old Lack made his NHL playoff debut in Game 1 and has played well for Vancouver, posting a 2.36 goals against average and .914 save percentage in the series.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We had the chance to get the puck out on a few of their goals and we didn't," Lack said. "We need to battle harder on the boards."
The Canucks and Flames split four meetings during the regular season and each club won a game at the Saddledome.
This series marks the seventh postseason encounter between the clubs, but the first since the 2004 conference quarterfinals, won in seven games by Calgary. The Flames have won four of the six prior playoff encounters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game 5 is scheduled for Thursday in Vancouver.