Passions were high at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre Monday night for the Vancouver Canucks' first pre-season game against the Calgary Flames.
While red Flames jerseys lined the seats of the arena, most of the fans at the sold-out game donned blue Canucks merchandise, with former Victoria Royals captain Matt Phillips (Flames) and Victoria native Jordie Benn (Canucks) receiving standing ovations from the hometown fans.
The exhibition match started with an aggressive first period that saw the Flames pull ahead with a two-goal lead.
By the second period, the Flames kept the pressure on and scored a third goal against the Canucks without the Vancouver-based team landing one in return.
When the puck dropped at the top of the third period, spirits for Canucks fans remained high, but wearied.
All seemed lost when the Flames landed a fourth goal early in the third period. However, the shot was quickly followed by a Canucks goal just moments after.
The burst of energy following the goal carried the Vancouver team to another two goals within the last three minutes of the game, ending the match at a heart-pounding four-three victory for the Calgary Flames.
Despite the narrow loss, the energy remained high at the arena, with fans cheering "Go Canucks, go," into the final moments of the game.
With the pre-season match over and the Canucks' three-day training camp in Victoria concluded, the team is now preparing for their four remaining exhibition matches and the start of their regular season on Oct. 2 in Edmonton.
