Flames at Ducks
After finding a way to win their first playoff series in 11 years, the Calgary Flames will need to make another discovery if they hope to capture their Western Conference semifinal matchup against the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks, which begins Thursday at Honda Center. Calgary had lost all four of its postseason sets since reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2004 before ousting Vancouver in six games in its 2015 first-round series.
Now, the Flames will have to end a lengthy losing streak in Anaheim in order to advance to the conference final. Calgary has not posted a road victory over the Ducks since winning Game 3 of its first-round series in 2006 - when Honda Center was known as Arrowhead Pond in the only previous playoff meeting between the clubs won by Anaheim in seven games - and is 0-15-5 in the building during the regular season since Jan. 19, 2004. While the Flames are making their first conference semifinal appearance in more than a decade, the Ducks are looking to advance past the second round for the first time since winning their lone championship in 2007. Both clubs are well-rested, as Anaheim has been idle since completing a sweep of Winnipeg on April 22 while Calgary has not played since finishing off the Canucks on Saturday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCSN, RSN, TVA
ABOUT THE FLAMES: Coach Bob Hartley is well aware of the fact his team will need to pull out at least one victory at Honda Center in order to move on. While he'd like to do it as early in the series as possible, he isn't worried about when it will occur. "Whether we win the first one, second one, third one or last one, we're okay with this," he said. "Obviously, we're going to try to win them all."
ABOUT THE DUCKS: After having him tending its net for the previous three postseasons, Anaheim will be trying to get pucks past Jonas Hiller for a change. The 33-year-old Swiss spent the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the Ducks before signing with Calgary as a free agent last summer. "It should be a great challenge for us," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He knows where our shooters, most of them, shoot. We know where most of the goals have gone in on him. ... He'll be a big part of it, but it's not going to be the final component (to determine who wins the series)."
OVERTIME
1. The 2006 postseason marked the final time Anaheim was referred to as the Mighty Ducks.
2. Both teams have displayed an incredible ability to overcome late deficits, as Anaheim recorded a league-leading 12 victories when trailing after two periods during the regular season - and added three more versus the Jets - while Calgary finished third with 10 such triumphs before notching two more against Vancouver.
3. The Ducks won the 2014-15 season series between the Pacific Division rivals, going 3-0-1 before suffering a 6-3 loss at Calgary on March 11 in the final meeting.
SERIES PREDICTION: Ducks in seven