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 Two weeks after suffering a lopsided loss at the Scotiabank
Saddledome, the Ducks erased a one-goal deficit Wednesday and
emerged with a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over the Calgary
Flames.
Centers Nick Bonino, Mathieu Perreault and Andrew Cogliano scored
for the Ducks, who are now two points back of the first-place San
Jose Sharks in Pacific Division. Anaheim (47-18-7) has two games in
hand.
Not only did the Ducks gain some valuable ground on the Sharks, but
they also erased the memories of a 7-2 drubbing from the Flames in
the same building on March 12.
"The whole team was upset with what happened last time," Ducks
goalie Jonas Hiller said. "It's nice if you get a chance pretty
quick to do better, and I'm definitely happy with the way we
responded and the way I responded. I thought we played a pretty good
road game."
The Ducks officially clinched a playoff spot Tuesday night thanks to
a loss by the Dallas Stars, but they are more worried about tracking
down San Jose.
"Coming down the stretch, we play a couple teams that are already
out of the playoffs. We have to take advantage of those games,"
Perreault said.
The Flames, who are not in the postseason picture but have earned a
reputation as one of the NHL's hardest-working squads, made the
Ducks earn their two points Wednesday.
Right wingers Brian McGrattan and Jiri Hudler provided the offense
for the Flames, who had a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes but couldn't
seal the deal.
After allowing three goals on five shots before getting the hook on
his last trip to Calgary, Hiller finished with 32 saves Wednesday.
Flames netminder Karri Ramo made 31 stops.
"I believe that the story of this game is two teams that worked very
hard," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "In the third period, they got
two good breaks and they deserved them because they worked as hard
as us.
"That's the beauty of this game — sometimes you get the breaks, and
sometimes you don't get the breaks. I can't fault the effort. I felt
that we played a very good game."
The Flames (30-36-7) had a handful of solid opportunities to open
the scoring, but it was the Ducks who struck first on the power
play.
With Flames defenseman Ladislav Smid seated for an illegal hit to
the head on Ducks right winger Tim Jackman, Bonino cruised into
Calgary's zone and fired a shot over Ramo's shoulder for the only
goal of the first period.
McGrattan, who was skating in his 300th NHL game, tied it up at the
4:44 mark of the middle frame, getting some luck after defenseman
Tyler Wotherspoon's shot bounced off fellow forward Kevin Westgarth
and then off McGrattan as he was parked on the edge of the crease.
It is just the 10th career goal for the enforcer, who is known more
for his contributions with his fists.
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Ramo made several terrific stops during the second period — on Bonino and Ducks left winger Rickard Rackell, in particular — and
was rewarded when Hudler converted a Smid pass to score the go-ahead
goal just 26 seconds before the second intermission.
Perreault knotted the score at the 5:32 mark of the third period,
jumping on loose puck after a rebound bounced behind Ramo. Ducks
defenseman Sami Vatanen collected his second assist of the night on
Perreault's goal.
Cogliano's eventual game-winner was another second effort, with Ramo
providing a juicy rebound after a save on defenseman Stephane
Robidas. Cogliano hit the back of the net to give the Ducks the lead
with just 5:19 to go.
"It was a play we've been working on, just getting to the net,"
Cogliano said. "We feel like we've been getting shots, but we
haven't been getting dirty goals. Matty got one to tie it up, and I
got one off a rebound. Those are the goals we're trying to score
these days."
The Flames pulled Ramo for an extra attacker but couldn't score the
equalizer.
"We know we can play with every team in the league, but it's not
good enough, a good effort. We have to get results, too," Ramo said.
"That's the business of hockey."
NOTES: Anaheim D Francois Beauchemin was a healthy scratch. With the
Ducks already booking a playoff berth, it is likely that the
33-year-old veteran was just getting a bit of extra rest. The Ducks
also were without D Mark Fistric (lower body), D Cam Fowler (knee)
and D Sheldon Souray (wrist) ... Flames C Markus Granlund, RW David
Jones and D Dennis Wideman are all out due to upper-body injuries
... C Mikael Backlund was honored during a pregame ceremony as the
recipient of the Flames' Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award. The
annual award honors a player for on- and off-ice service. ... The
Ducks announced they signed RW Matt Bailey to a two-year,
entry-level contract. Bailey, 22, was an undrafted free agent who
just completed his senior season at the University of
Alaska-Anchorage. On Tuesday, the Ducks agreed to an entry-level
deal with D Josh Manson, 22. He was Anaheim's sixth-round pick in
the 2011 draft, and he spent the past three campaigns at
Northeastern University. His father, Dave, spent 16 seasons in the
NHL. ... The Ducks are back in action Friday against the Oilers in
Edmonton, while the Flames will host the New York Rangers the same
night.
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