Canucks match Rangers atop NHL standings with win vs. Flames

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Nils Hoglander scored twice, Casey DeSmith stopped 22 shots and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Saturday night for a share of the NHL lead.

Vancouver won its third straight to improve to 45-18-8, good for 98 points and a tie with the New York Rangers atop the NHL standings. In the Western Conference, the Canucks are three points ahead of Colorado and Dallas.

DeSmith, making his fifth straight start in place of the injured Thatcher Demko, improved to 11-5-6. J.T. Miller added his 34th goal, Elias Lindholm scored into an empty net, and Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland each had two assists.

Rasmus Andersson and Joel Hanley scored for Calgary, and Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves in his return from a lower-body injury. The Flames hadn't played since falling 5-2 at home to Washington on Monday night.

Hoglander opened the scoring 48 seconds into the game with a tip-in, and made it 2-0 at 8:16 of the second period with his 22nd goal. Andersson cut it to 2-1 with 1:29 left in the second.

In the third, Miller scored with 3:18 left and Lindholm made it 4-1 with an empty-netter with 1:10 to go. Hanley then beat DeSmith with 19 seconds remaining.

UP NEXT

Flames: Host Buffalo on Sunday night.

Canucks: Host Los Angeles on Monday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl