Ducks beat Flames 3-2 in 8th round of shootout

[February 07, 2012]  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Niklas Hagman scored the deciding goal in the eighth round of a shootout and the Anaheim Ducks beat Calgary 3-2 on Monday night for their 14th straight home victory over the Flames.

Bobby Ryan and Matt Beleskey scored less than 2 minutes apart in the first period for the Ducks, who won the tiebreaker by a 3-2 margin. Jonas Hiller made 24 saves.

The Ducks haven't lost to the Flames at home since a 5-1 defeat on Jan. 19, 2004 -- Calgary's only regulation win in its last 24 visits to Anaheim (1-13-10). The Flames' last seven games at Honda Center have resulted in one-goal losses, five of them either in overtime or a shootout.

Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla scored for Calgary. Miikka Kiprusoff had 31 saves in the opener of a three-game road trip.

The Flames, three points out of a playoff spot with 29 games left, are trying to avoid a third straight season out of the postseason under coach Brent Sutter. The only time they've missed the postseason three years in a row was 1998-00 when Sutter's brother, Brian, was the coach.

If it comes down to the final day of the season, their opponent will be the Ducks in Calgary.

The Flames were trailing 2-1 in the third period when Anaheim defenseman Luca Sbisa received a 5-minute major for head-butting Tim Jackman as he crossed the Anaheim blue line with the puck and leaving him dazed for a few moments. Calgary's Tom Kostopoulos took exception and got a roughing penalty during the ensuing skirmish, leaving Calgary with a 3-minute power play.

Iginla capitalized with the man advantage, beating Hiller on a breakaway to the stick side with 13:45 left in regulation off a feed from Olli Jokinen. It was the second breakaway goal in two games for Iginla, who extended his streak of consecutive seasons with 20 or more to 13 -- the longest among active players.

The Flames got a break when a goal by Ryan Getzlaf was waved off due to a goaltender interference penalty against Corey Perry at 8:23 of the first. But the Ducks eventually opened the scoring at the 15:52 mark when Ryan got the puck in the slot from Lubomir Visnovsky and got his 20th goal on a 30-foot wrist shot while Perry was screening Kiprusoff.

Beleskey added his fourth of the season at 17:51, redirecting Sheldon Brookbank's one-timer from the right point past Kiprusoff's stick. The 2006 Vezina Trophy winner remained one victory shy of becoming the 27th goalie in NHL history with at least 300 regular-season wins.

Tanguay got the Flames on the board at 4:41 of the second with his sixth goal and first in four games since returning from a neck injury that sidelined him for 15 games. He converted a pass from behind the net by Blair Jones and scored from the edge of the crease just 2 seconds after Calgary killed off an elbowing penalty against Kostopoulos.

Jones received a double-minor for cutting Teemu Selanne with a high stick after Scott Hannan was sent off for interference, giving Anaheim a two-man advantage for 1:36 later in the period. Kiprusoff made three saves during the 5-on-3 power play, and Saki Koivu fired two pucks off the post.

NOTES: Koivu has gone 11 games without a goal since his hat trick Jan. 10 against Dallas. ... Eleven of the last 14 meetings between the teams have been decided by one goal. ... The season-low turnout of 12,096 represented the Ducks' fifth crowd this season under 13,000. ... Hiller stopped Jokinen on a breakaway about 11 minutes into the first period, but Jokinen got the puck past him in the first round of the shootout. ... Perry has gone a season-high six games without a goal. ... Calgary is the only team in the league without a short-handed goal.

[Associated Press]

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