April 13, 2017

Jakob Silfverberg snapped a 2-2 tie in the 2nd period with a power play goal, and the Ducks defeated the Flames 3-2 on Thursday night at the Honda Center.  The victory gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead in their best of 7 first round playoff series.

The Ducks trailed 2-1 in the 2nd period after Sam Bennett gave the Flames the lead when he redirected a spectacular backhand a spin-o-rama pass from Kris Versteeg.  However, Rickard Rakell knocked in a rebound off a shot from Ryan Getzlaf.  The Ducks caught the Flames in the midst of a line change, which allowed Getzlaf to break in alone for a shot against Brian Elliott, which Rakell followed to tie the game at the 17:47 mark of the 2nd.  Just under 4 minutes later, Silfverberg beat Elliott with a wrist shot from the left circle to give the Ducks the lead for good.

John Gibson made 30 saves for Anaheim, while Getzlaf had a goal, assist, and 4 hits.  The Ducks killed a 5-on-3 disadvantage for 1:17 in the the game’s final minutes.  Gibson also denied Johnny Gaudreau in front of the net with 18 seconds left to play.

“I don’t think it was my best [game] tonight, but I got better as the game went on,” Gibson said. “The guys helped me out in front.”

Both teams exchanged power play goals in the 1st period.  Getzlaf scored 51 seconds into the game on a one-timer that deflected off of a Flames player in front of the net.  The Flames tied it up 8 minutes later on a goal by Sean Monahan, who redirected a pass from Kris Versteeg past Gibson.

Elliott stopped 38 shots in the loss.  Calgary is winless in Anaheim since April 25, 2006, when the Flames won a playoff game in a series won by the Ducks.

Getzlaf also threw an enormous hit on Flames’ captain Mark Giordano late in the 3rd period.  The hit served as payback for the knee-on-knee hit that Giordano delivered to Ducks’ defenseman Cam Fowler last week.  That hit left Fowler with an injured knee, which will require 2-6 weeks of healing before he can return.

“We’re going to have to earn everything. That’s a great hockey team over there,” Getzlaf said. “We’re going to have to continue to get better in certain areas, but we found a way to win tonight.”

Ducks’ forward Nick Ritchie completed his 2 game suspension on Thursday, for punching Chicago’s Michael Rozsival last week.  He will be eligible to return in game 2.

Game 2 will be Saturday night at the Honda Center.  The Ducks will look to make it 29 straight home wins against Calgary.