Video: Ducks Edge Flames 3-2 In Game 1

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks opened up the best-of-seven game series at home against the Calgary Flames. John Gibson was in net for Anaheim and Brian Elliott went for Calgary.

First Period:

Less than a minute into the game, Dougie Hamilton was called for tripping against Andrew Cogliano. Ryan Getzlaf would make the Flames pay as he blasted a slap shot past Elliott to give the Ducks an early 1-0 lead. Almost halfway through the period, Ondrej Kase would get called for holding and the Flames would even up the game on the power play. Sean Monahan got free next to the side of the next and tapped in the puck for an easy score. After the first period, the game remained tied 1-1.

Second Third:

The Flames came out strong in the second period pinning the Ducks in their own zone and working the forecheck. Eventually, it paid off as Sam Bennett would score a tap-in goal to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. The Flames had the momentum, but Rickard Rakell scored about four minutes later to tie the game up at two. The Flames made a terrible line change and Kevin Bieksa made a great outlet pass to Getzlaf giving the Ducks a rare 3-on-0 rush. Getzlaf fired the puck, which Elliott blocked, but then the rebound came to Rickard Rakell who fired the puck past Elliott. Later in the period, Jakob Silfverberg would score on the power play and the Ducks took a 3-2 lead into the third period.

Third Period:

Things got chippy in the third period as the Flames constantly harassed the Ducks after the whistle. The Flames were trying to draw penalties but instead found themselves in the penalty box twice. Just over halfway through the period, Mark Giordano had the puck and Getzlaf leveled him with a clean shoulder-to-shoulder check. Late in the period, the Ducks got into penalty trouble and the Flames had a 5-on-3 power play for about 1:14. The Ducks were able to kill off the penalties and in the final seconds, Ryan Kesler covered the puck to effectively end the game. The Flames desperately tried to rough Kesler up to get to the puck, but there was only 0.9 left the clock when the play was blown dead. Kesler received a delay of game penalty, but it was worth it as it prevented the Flames from any hope of tying the game.

Analysis:

This was a game of momentum. The Ducks had the early goal and energy, but the Flames battled back to tie the game the end of the first period. In the second period, the Flames continued to pressure and play hard getting the 2-1 lead. The Ducks were able to respond in the second half of period by getting two goals. In the final frame, the Ducks played discipline until the final minutes when they had to kill off a 5-on-3 Flames power play. Getzlaf came to play in this game getting a goal, an assist, and delivering a solid hit on Giordano. The Ducks had 41 shots on goal, dominated in the face-off circle, and won the special teams play. It wasn’t an easy win for Anaheim, but it was a hard-fought and well-deserved win.

Click below to watch highlights of the Ducks win!

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April 14th, 2017

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, calgary flames, ducksnpucks