Overtime bounces Calgary's way to deny another Ducks comeback

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Their home rink spat out a bad bounce to negate another comeback effort from the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

The Ducks erased two one-goal deficits to send the game to overtime, but an odd ricochet off the end boards sailed over the net for a tap-in game-winner to hand a win to the Calgary Flames, 3-2, at Honda Center.

Alex Killorn scored on a four-on-four to even up in the second period, and Mason McTavish deflected home a power-play tally to equalize in the third period. John Gibson made 30 stellar saves in the defeat.

“It was a tight-checking playoff type of game,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “The crowd was awesome… I think after we got through (the first period) it was just a back and forth game. I felt we were gonna tie it. I think we could have shot the puck way more than we did.

“It’s unfortunate the way it ended.”

Calgary’s opening goal in the final minute of the first period pinballed through traffic off MacKenzie Weeger, and Weeger fed a precision pass to Nazem Kadri for the go-ahead goal in the third period.

In overtime, Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba tried to shoot a hard clear directly off the boards behind Gibson, but Matthew Coronato got a stick on Trouba’s release. The puck popped off the boards and over the net to the feet of Jonathan Huberdeau, who knocked in the game-winning strike for the Flames (19-14-7, 45 points).

“It's just tough the way it ends, you know,” Killorn said. “It's kind of a play that gets bounced off the wall, and there's a lot of things that happen that led up to that, and it's just tough, you don't wanna lose games like that, but that's just the way it is.”

Anaheim is 7-4-1 in their last 12 games and nine out of a possible 12 points in a stretch against teams in the playoff race. The Ducks (17-18-5, 39 points) are six points out of a playoff spot and now embark on a six-game road trip against teams currently in playoff spots or within three points of the cutoff.

“For sure, we've beaten some really, really good hockey teams,” McTavish said, “and I think it's great for our group, just knowing that we can hang with those guys and play with them, being such a younger team. 

“It's nice playing these meaningful games in early January. I think it's something we're all gonna take really seriously as we should, and take a lot of pride in.”

Anaheim takes on former defenseman Cam Fowler and the Blues (19-19-4, 42 points) in St. Louis on Thursday.

The Ducks withstood a slow start and killed off an early Calgary power play in what ended up as a fairly even first period until the final minute.

The Flames grabbed the opening score with 55 seconds left, as a shot from Joel Hanley pinballed off MacKenzie Weegar in the slot and over Gibson for the lead, 1-0.

Drew Helleson sparked the incendiary moment of the game in the second period, as he received a five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing on Connor Zary. Helleson stepped up on the rush, and as Zary shifted his weight to cut inside, Helleson’s body check missed and the knees collided.

“I don't know what the definition of that misconduct is,” Cronin said. “I know they’re playing a one-on-on, and there's no way that he was intentionally trying to hit him with a knee. I don't think his skates ever came off the ice. He's trying to play a one-on-one and hit him with his shoulder. I just saw Zary cut to the inside. From the bench, I couldn't see it like where the knees hit, but then I saw the replay, and they definitely collided with the knee.”

“I hope Zary's okay. He's a hell of a hockey player.”

Cronin said the referees told him that calling a game misconduct on that type of penalty is up to their discretion.

“They looked at the replay and so they must have felt that that was the right call,” Cronin said.

Calgary earned a minor in the ensuing fracas, and the Ducks got level as the four-on-four period expired.

Isac Lundeström drove the center lane to drop the puck back and open space for Killorn, who zipped his shot around a screen to tie, 1-1. It was Killorn’s first goal in nine games and third point in four games.

The Ducks limited Calgary to just two shots on the remaining three minutes of power play time, but the Flames went back ahead four minutes later.

Weeger shuttled a precise feed from the right half boards to Nazem Kadri in the slot, and Kadri deflected it home for the lead, 2-1.

In the third period, the Ducks power play finally provided a much needed jolt to equalize once more.

Cutter Gauthier drifted to the right point with the puck and quickly wristed a shot through the slot, which McTavish deflected between the circles to bring the game level, 2-2.

It was the Ducks’ second power play goal in their last four attempts. Anaheim is in stretches of 2-for-21 and 3-for-36 on the power play. The Ducks are 5-for-47 (10.6%) on the man-advantage since Trevor Zegras’ injury, and Anaheim was 11-for-70 (15.7%) prior to Zegras going down.

“It's such a big part of the game,” McTavish said, “and obviously, it hasn't been great to start the year, the first half or whatever. It's something we're working on a lot. Nice to get a couple of in the last couple of games.”

From there, the Ducks scratched and clawed over the final 12 minutes to bring this game to overtime. Jackson LaCombe shutdown an open-net chance on the doorstep with eight minutes to play, and Gibson stopped five shots in the second half of the period.

"There was some big time saves he made," Cronin said. "He swallowed them up. 
He looked big in the net. Then in the third period there, we got a little bit sloppy on our breakouts. He had a couple point blank shots, and he was terrific. He was great."

Game Notes

• The Ducks hosted their annual Angels Night with Los Angeles, Anaheim and California Angels alumni pitchers Jered Weaver, Chuck Finley and Mark Langston on hand for the puck drop. It was a standing-room-only sellout with 17,356 in attendance.

• Anaheim’s leading scorer Troy Terry missed Tuesday’s game and morning skate due to the expected birth of his second child. Terry holds a six game point streak with eight points in those games and four goals in four games.

• Ducks forward Brett Leason moved up to Terry’s spot alongside Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome. Isac Lundeström jumped up to Leason’s spot next to Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn.

• Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger sat out, as Pavel Mintyukov drew back into the line-up. It was Zellweger’s fourth healthy scratch in the last six games after Mintyukov was also a healthy scratch in four of the previous six games.