Anaheim 5, Calgary 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, February 21, 2016
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Referees:
Dave Jackson, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen:
Shane Heyer, Mark Wheler
Attendance:
17174
By The Sports Xchange
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Ducks celebrated their return from a successful road trip by increasing their most recent opponent's extraordinary agony.
Center Ryan Kesler had two goals and an assist to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-2 rout of the Calgary Flames on Sunday night in front of a sellout crowd 17,174 at the Honda Center.
The victory enabled the Ducks to extend their winning streak against the Flames in Anaheim to 22 consecutive games since 2004, the second-longest such streak in NHL history. Between 1980 and 1987, the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 23 successive times in the City of Brotherly Love.
Center Ryan Getzlaf, left winger Patrick Maroon and defenseman Kevin Bieksa contributed goals while goalie John Gibson stopped 22 shots as the Ducks (31-19-8) used their fifth consecutive victory and their 12th in 14 games to move within two points of the first-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division.
"It's been fun," Kesler said of his team's surge. "Every night, we go into the game not thinking, but knowing, we're going to win."
Defenseman Mark Giordano and center Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames (26-29-3), who lost four of five and have allowed 30 goals in their past seven games. Goalie Jonas Hiller, who spent seven seasons in Anaheim, made 28 saves.
"We've been giving up way too many goals lately and we've got to clean that up, especially on the road," Giordano said. "I thought we were right there with them but at the start of the third period, we gave them goals we usually don't give up."
The Ducks held a 2-1 lead after two periods, then exploited two turnovers in the third period to solidify their advantage. Left winger David Perron stole the puck in the right corner and passed to Getzlaf, who scored his eighth goal by redirecting the puck 16 seconds into the period.
"That was the nail in the coffin for them," Kesler said.
Flames coach Bob Hartley agreed,
"For the first 40 minutes, I thought we matched their intensity," Hartley said. "But when they scored that first goal, we felt like they got back to their game. That first shift really gave them lots of momentum."
Nearly five minutes later, Kesler added his second goal and 13th of the season. After stripping the puck from Flames defenseman Deryk Engelland between the left circle and the crease, Kesler deposited a shot under the crossbar at 4:56.
"We don't sit back and let the other team come back at us," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "As a coaching staff, we keep talking about keeping the foot on the gas and going after them, going after them."
The Ducks scored first on a power play at 15:36 of the first period, 10 seconds after Giordano received a penalty for delay of game.
After Flames left winger Lance Bouma blocked a shot from Anaheim defender Hampus Lindholm at the right circle, Lindholm retrieved the puck and passed to Maroon at the right post. Engelland used his right skate to block Maroon's first shot but Maroon converted the rebound inside the post for his fourth goal.
Bouma had a chance to tie the score 6:12 into the second period, but Gibson made an unusual save. Bouma's wrist shot hit Gibson's right shoulder, ricocheted off his right pad and trickled behind him before Gibson pounced on the puck with his glove as center Matt Stajan closed in.
Kesler gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead 42 seconds later. Kesler received left winger Andrew Cogliano's pass from behind the net, then dragged a wrist shot from the left circle inside the right post for his 12th goal.
Giordano ended Gibson's shutout bid by scoring his 15th goal on a power play at 8:52. Left winger Johnny Gaudreau backhanded a drop pass from the left circle to Giordano, who one-timed a slap shot from the top of the slot.
Anaheim extended its advantage to 5-1 with its third power-play goal, as Bieksa one-timed a slap shot from the left circle for his fourth goal with 5:07 to play. Backlund's 11th goal ended the scoring with 44.8 seconds left.
NOTES: Calgary scratched C Markus Granlund, C Josh Jooris and D Kris Russell. ... Flames G Jonas Hiller appeared in his 400th career game. ... Flames D Mark Giordano played his 568th game for the team. He needs nine more appearances to pass Miikka Kiprusoff and move into 11th place on the club's all-time list. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer, D Clayton Stoner and C Harry Zolnierczyk. ... Ducks LW Andrew Cogliano played in his 680th consecutive game to take over sixth place on the NHL's all-time list. Cogliano broke a tie with Vancouver Canucks C Henrik Sedin. ... The Ducks' 5-1-1 record from their road trip that ended Friday was the best in team history for any trip of at least seven games.
Top Game Performances
Calgary |
|
Anaheim |
Mikael Backlund 1 |
Points |
Ryan Kesler 3 |
Mikael Backlund 1 |
Goals |
Ryan Kesler 2 |
Brandon Bollig 1 |
Assists |
Hampus Lindholm 2 |
Mark Giordano 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Kevin Bieksa 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Jonas Hiller .848 |
Save Percentage |
John Gibson .917 |
Jonas Hiller 28 |
Saves |
John Gibson 22 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Calgary
|
24 |
2 |
1-5 |
3-5 |
12 |
28 |
Anaheim
|
33 |
5 |
2-5 |
4-5 |
14 |
29 |
Upcoming Games
-
Anaheim will play their next game at home against Buffalo. The Ducks have a W/L % of .516 after a win and .556 after a loss.
-
Calgary will play their next game on the road against Los Angeles. The Flames have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .438 after a loss.