Flames at Ducks
The top-seeded Anaheim Ducks proved a long layoff was anything but a detriment with their dominating victory on Thursday. Anaheim looks to remain perfect this postseason when it hosts the Calgary Flames for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Sunday.
After sweeping Winnipeg in the opening round, the Ducks had seven days of rest before taking on Calgary, which had no answers for Corey Perry (two goals, two assists) and captain Ryan Getzlaf (one, three) in an embarrassing 6-1 loss. Things went from bad - former Anaheim netminder Jonas Hiller was pulled after allowing three goals on 14 shots - to worse for the Flames, as Jiri Hudler and Micheal Ferland went down in the series opener with injuries. Hudler, who topped the team during the regular season with 31 goals and 76 points and shares the club lead with three tallies and six points in the playoffs, suffered an undisclosed injury but is expected to be in the lineup Sunday, while Ferland is questionable with an upper-body ailment after pestering Vancouver in the first round with his physical play. Karri Ramo, who stopped 18-of-21 shots after replacing Hiller in the opener, will start Game 2 for Calgary, which is 0-15-5 at Honda Center (0-3 in the postseason) since winning Game 3 of its first-round series against Anaheim in 2006.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CNBC, RSN, TVA
ABOUT THE FLAMES: In addition to Hudler and Ferland, rookie Johnny Gaudreau sat out the third period Thursday - but for a different reason. Coach Bob Hartley elected to keep the Calder Trophy finalist on the bench for the final 20 minutes to protect him from potential injury, believing Anaheim was "taking liberties" with the left wing. "There was no sense exposing him out there," Hartley said. "He's a big-time player for us, and (I) talked about it with my partners between the second and third period; we all agreed that it was best for him."
ABOUT THE DUCKS: With a Hart and a Maurice Richard Trophy already on his mantle, Perry is looking to complete a hat trick as he has emerged as an early favorite for the Conn Smythe this postseason. The 29-year-old leads all players with 11 points, has landed on the scoresheet in four of his five games and has registered two series-opening four-point performances - scoring two goals in each. "You can see it on (his) face, how much he wants to score and how much he wants to be the guy that does the damage," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "That's probably why he gets into a lot of trouble with other players more than other guys. He can be an antagonizer and an instigator as well as a great player."
OVERTIME
1. The Ducks have won five consecutive playoff games for the first time since the 2007 postseason, when they closed out the conference final against Detroit with three straight victories before capturing the first two contests of the Stanley Cup final versus Ottawa.
2. Flames D Raphael Diaz, who has been sidelined since April 2 with a lower-body injury, participated in Saturday's practice and will be a game-time decision for Sunday's contest.
3. Anaheim, which went 2-for-4 in Game 1, and Minnesota share the league lead with a 33.3 percent success rate on the power play as both teams are 5-for-15.