Connor Zary scored at 1:33 of overtime for the visiting Calgary Flames, who rallied from a pair of three-goal deficits to win 6-5 against the Vancouver Canucks in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night.
Zary weaved through the slot before sliding the puck past goalie Arturs Silovs for the winning goal.
Zary, Anthony Mantha, Martin Pospisil and Rasmus Andersson each had a goal and an assist, Nazem Kadri had two assists and Dan Vladar made 20 saves for Calgary, which rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1.
Brock Boeser scored two goals, J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist, Quinn Hughes had two assists and Silovs made 20 saves in his 10th NHL start for the Canucks.
After goals by Pospisil and MacKenzie Weegar earlier in the third period had tied the score 4-4, Jonathan Huberdeau got to a loose puck in the crease and swiped it across the goal line for a 5-4 lead at 10:40 — Calgary’s first lead of the game.
Vancouver pulled Silovs for the extra attacker and Canucks defenseman Hughes blocked an empty-net try before passing to Miller and he scored in transition to tie it 5-5 with 1:37 left in regulation.
The Canucks went on the first of four power plays in the first period after Flames center Kevin Rooney was injured by a legal hit from Miller, resulting in several skirmishes.
Daniel Sprong scored with one second left on the ensuing power play on a wrist shot from above the right circle through traffic, giving Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 9:40.
The Canucks went back on the power play shortly afterward and Jake DeBrusk fed Boeser in front for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead at 11:48.
Conor Garland got to a loose puck as it bounced through the slot and fired it past Vladar to stretch the lead to 3-0 at 12:16.
Mantha went to the box for roughing Miller, but then Mantha scored on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box at the end of a brief 5-on-3, cutting the lead to 3-1 at 15:49.
The Canucks re-established the three-goal edge before the end of the opening period, scoring just after another power play had expired on a redirection by Boeser at 17:18.
Andersson scored the lone goal of the second period. After his shot was blocked by DeBrusk, he got the puck back from Kadri and scored from the inside edge of the right circle eight seconds later, trimming the lead to 4-2 at 17:01.
Pospisil made it 4-3 with a wrist shot from the high slot at 2:41, and Calgary capitalized on its first power play to tie the score 4-4 on a wrist shot by Weegar at 8:14.
–Field Level Media
