VIDEO: Anaheim Goes Down Swinging

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks(1-0-1) came into this contest looking to continue their winning streak at home against the Calgary Flames(1-1-0). John Gibson went in net for Anaheim and Mike Smith was in goal for Calgary. Ryan Getzlaf made his season debut.

First Period

There was no scoring in the opening frame, but it only took a little over six minutes of play for things to get heated between Corey Perry and Mark Giordano. After being hit multiple times in front of the Calgary net, Giordano continued to “poke the Pear” literally. As a result, Perry cross-checked Giordano down to the ice. Travis Hamonic then confronted Perry and the fight was on. Watch below to see how it all unfolded.

Second Period

The teams continued to battle in the middle frame to a scoreless tie for just over 15 minutes. With about four and a half minutes to go, Kevin Bieksa was called for cross-checking against Sean Monahan. On the ensuing power play, Monahan would make the Ducks pay scoring the opening goal of the game. The Ducks outshot the Flames 17-10 in the period but trailed 1-0 heading into the third period.

Third Period

In the final frame, the Ducks poured on the pressure throughout the period. After one period of sustained pressure, the Flames counter attacked and Mikael Backlund scored an insurance marker. The Ducks trailed 2-0 and applied all kinds of pressure, getting close to scoring a few times, but Mike Smith played a solid game shutting the Ducks out.

Analysis

It was the same story for the Ducks, who saw themselves give up the first goal of the game again for the third time. In the three games that Anaheim has played, they have only had the lead at the end of their home opener against the Arizona Coyotes. The Ducks also had five power play chances, but couldn’t convert on any of them. Anaheim did carry the play for the majority of the third period, but they couldn’t get the puck past Smith. The Ducks had some secondary chances and were still shut out in the end.

Key Stats:

The Ducks have only had the lead for three minutes and thirty seconds through their first three games.

The Ducks are 0-for-11 on the power play.

Tonight was the Flames’ first win in Anaheim since Game 3 of the 2006 Western Conference quarterfinals.

It was also the Flames first win in Anaheim during the regular season since January 19, 2004.

Injury News:

Ondrej Kase had to leave the game with an upper-body injury. It appears he took a hit to his head and was being evaluated as a precaution.

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October 10th, 2017

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