VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- They will take the victory, but the Vancouver Canucks know they were lucky to extend their winning streak to six games.

The Canucks were outshot 46-13 but still managed to beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 Friday night.

Markus Granlund scored two goals and collected an assist for the Canucks. Goaltender Ryan Miller made 44 saves as Vancouver improved its record to 20-18-3.

"I didn't think we played a really good game, but if you can win it's a good thing," said Granlund. "Millsy was great in net. That's the key if you want to win games."

The Canucks are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games and have gone from having the third-worst record in the league to sitting in the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The 33-shot differential was the largest ever for Vancouver in a win. The previous high was 31 against Montreal in 1984.

"We won't make the playoffs playing like that," said head coach Willie Desjardins. "We know we have to find a way to be better.

"We didn't play the way we wanted to play but sometimes when you can win without your best stuff it is good. We can certainly play better than that, but it was good we found a way to win."

Michael Chaput and Loui Eriksson also scored for Vancouver.

"We can't afford to give them that many shots, but our goalie was huge tonight," said Chaput, who scored his third NHL goal and first in in 29 games with Vancouver.

"We did a good job clearing the front of the net after they got the first shot."

The Flames entered the third period trailing 3-1 and peppered Miller with 23 shots during the final 20 minutes.

"I knew they'd come," said Miller, who earned his fifth straight victory. "I don't think their team feels like they are ever out of it. They have some good playmakers.

"If they get close anything is possible so the focus was just survive minute by minute and get out of here with some points."

Michael Frolik scored twice for Calgary (21-18-2). Mikael Backlund had two assists, giving him 11 points (6-5) in six games.

The Flames, who had a two-game win streak snapped, are (5-3-0) in their last eight games.

It was a rough night for Flames' goaltender Brian Elliott, who stopped nine shots.

Eriksson scored when his shot deflected off sprawling Flames defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon and over Elliott's shoulder. Granlund's second of the night came early in the third period when he tipped a point shot from Nikita Tryamkin past Elliott.

Calgary captain Mark Giordano said the loss wasn't Elliott's fault.

"Tip ins, deflections, you can't blame your goalie on those ones," he said. "I thought he played well.

"It was one of those nights. You can almost feel it when we were pressing, pressing and nothing was going. They got one look and it went in."

Calgary's first goal game just 78 seconds into the game when Frolik tipped a pass from Backlund behind Miller.

The Flames thought they had taken a 2-0 lead when Lance Bouma scored short-handed at 8:48 of the first. The goal was disallowed when it was ruled Matt Stajan had interfered with Miller in the crease.

"They called back the goal and it kind of changed the momentum a little bit," said Elliott. "I don't think that's goalie interference.

"The came back and scored a couple. It's a tough game when we're generating chances. We hit a couple of posts and their goalie played well. That type of hockey that we played, in an 82-game season that will be successful."

Giordano said turnovers and poor passes hurt the Flames.

"We were frustrated with the mistakes we made," he said. "We put a lot of pucks on their net. Their goalie played a good game.

"They capitalized when we made a mistake. It's frustrating."

NOTES: RW Alex Burrows missed the games because of illness allowing RW Anton Rodin to draw into the Canucks' lineup. ... Vancouver lost 4-1 and had just 14 shots on goal the last time the teams met Dec. 23. ... G Ryan Miller allowed five goals in his previous four games. ... C Reid Boucher, acquired on waivers from New Jersey on Wednesday, skated with the Canucks on Friday but didn't dress. ... D Alex Biega was a healthy scratch. ... Vancouver plays six of its next nine games on the road. ... Calgary D Dougie Hamilton played in his 300th NHL game. ... D Jyrki Jokipakka was a healthy scratch for a second straight game and the third time in the last six. ... RW Garnet Hathaway also was a healthy scratch. ... It was just the sixth road game for Calgary since Nov. 29. ... The two teams play again Saturday night in Calgary.