Ducks take advantage of Flames' mistakes in Game 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A poorly executed line change allowed the Anaheim Ducks to seize momentum from the visiting Calgary Flames and emerge with a 3-2 victory on Thursday night in Game 1 of a first-round Western Conference playoff series at Honda Center.
With the Flames holding a 2-1 lead and less than 14 minutes remaining in the second period, Calgary got caught in an ill-timed line change.
With all five Calgary skaters working their way to the bench, the Ducks broke out with a three-on-zero break. Ryan Getzlaf snapped a shot that bounced off the glove of Flames goaltender Brian Elliott (38 saves), and Rickard Rakell was there to gather the rebound and knock it home for the game-tying goal.
Anaheim seized control when Jakob Silfverberg took a feed from key in-season acquisition Patrick Eaves and scored a power play-goal at the 17:47 mark of the middle period. That turned out to be the game-winner.
The Ducks got some sharp goaltending from John Gibson (30 saves) to hold off the scrappy Flames the rest of the way.
Silverberg finished with a goal and an assist, as did Ducks captain Getzlaf, who opened the scoring with a power play-goal just 52 seconds into the game.
Calgary bounced back with a power-play goal by Sean Monahan in the first period and even-strength tally by Sam Bennett in the second to take a 2-1 lead. Both goals were assisted by Kris Versteeg.
Neither team scored during a hotly contested third, and the Ducks frantically fought off a final Calgary power play in the closing seconds.
Anaheim finished with a 41-32 edge in shots on goal and scored twice on five power-play opportunities.
Ducks defensemen Shea Theodore, who spent the season going back-and-forth between Anaheim and San Diego with the team's American Hockey League affiliate, recorded a pair of assists.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Saturday night at Honda Center.
NOTES: With his first period goal, Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf moved into third place on the team's all-time playoff goal scoring list behind Teemu Selanne (35) and current teammate RW Corey Perry (35). ... The series marks the third playoff meeting between the teams. The Ducks won in six games in the 2006 Western Conference quarterfinals and won in five games in the 2015 second-round. ... The most significant injury for either team entering the series involved Ducks D Cam Fowler, who sustained a knee injury when the teams met on April 4 and is expected to be out between two and six weeks. Fowler was kneed by Flames D Mark Giordano, causing some bad blood between the teams, adding some spice to the playoff matchup. ... Flames G Brian Elliott dropped to 1-7 in his career against the Ducks.