Lindholm hits 40 goals as Flames down Canucks

CALGARY — Dillon Dube scored twice and Elias Lindholm notched his 40th goal to lead the Calgary Flames to a 6-3 win over Vancouver on Saturday night, reducing the Canucks' playoff hopes to just a flicker.

Brett Ritchie, Nikita Zadorov and Johnny Gaudreau, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary (49-20-10). The Flames, 9-1-1 in their last 11, have already locked up first place in the Pacific Division.

Quinn Hughes, Conor Garland and Emilio Pettersson had the goals for Vancouver (38-30-11), which loses both games on its two-game road trip that started off in Minnesota.

With three games remaining, the Canucks trail Nashville and Dallas in the Western Conference wild card race by six points. Vegas, two points ahead of Vancouver, is another team they would have to pass.

With Jacob Markstrom getting the night off and not even in uniform, rookie Dan Vladar got the rare home start – just his third start at the Saddledome all season. He made 28 stops to improve to 12-5-2.

At the other end, Thatcher Demko had 25 stops. He falls to 33-22-7.

After a scoreless and penalty-free first period, the Flames surged in front 2:44 into the second period with a power-play goal.

Lindholm, who was clipped by a high-stick from rookie Canucks forward William Lockwood to draw the penalty, whipped a perfect shot into the top corner after being set up by Johnny Gaudreau.

Lindholm's 40th goal comes one game after linemate Matthew Tkachuk reached that same number.

It's the first time Calgary has had multiple 40-goal scorers in a season since 1993-94 when Gary Roberts (41), Theo Fleury (40) and Robert Reichel (40) all accomplished that feat.

Lindholm, whose career-best had been 29 in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, had been stalled at 39 for