Flames thump Canucks

VANCOUVER Mark Giordano scored twice, Sam Bennett had a goal and three assists, and the Calgary Flames snapped a threegame losing streak with a 6-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Mark Jankowski added a goal and two assists for Calgary (17-13-3), while Matthew Tkachuk and Micheal Ferland also scored.

Backup goalie David Rittich made 16 saves to pick up his third win in four appearances this season. Dougie Hamilton chipped in with two assists.

Markus Granlund replied for Vancouver (15-15-4). Jacob Markstrom allowed five goals on 19 shots - with four beating him to the stick side - in a forgettable outing before getting replaced by Anders Nilsson to start the third period. Nilsson made 18 saves in relief as the Canucks lost in regulation for the fifth time in six games.

Coming off Saturday's 2-0 home loss to the Nashville Predators that saw them drop to 0-2-1 over their last three, the Flames opened the scoring at 5:45 of the first period when Bennett shook Jake Virtanen's check in the corner before feeding a pass in front to Jankowski, who beat Markstrom low to the far post for his sixth goal of the season. Thomas Vanek had an opportunity with seven minutes left in the period for Vancouver, but he couldn't control a bouncing puck at the side of the net on a play that resulted in Rittich, who was making just his fifth NHL appearance and got the nod ahead of No. 1 goalie Mike Smith in the second game of a back-to-back, getting penalized for throwing his stick.

The injury-riddled Canucks snapped a four-game losing streak which included a complete no-show in a 7-1 home loss to Nashville on Wednesday - with Friday's spirited 4-3 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks, but were never in this one.