Ducks @ Flames RECAP: Kids and Vets Combine to Elevate Ducks to 3-2 OT win vs. Flames

After a heartbreaking last-second loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Honda Center, the Anaheim Ducks began a four-game road trip this evening north of the border, facing off against the Calgary Flames. After persevering through much of the regulation frame where they were thoroughly outshot and out-chanced, the Ducks tied the game late in the third period and scored a breathtaking OT breakaway goal to defeat the Flames 3-2, and improved their record to 2-1-0 (4 points), good for second in the Pacific Division.

Lineup Changes

The Ducks made news before this evening’s game with one notable healthy scratch: Derek Grant. After a consistent and extensive stretch of well-below replacement-level play, the Ducks finally waived Grant this past weekend after Friday’s loss to the Wild, when he posted an abysmal 16.5% xGF and was on the ice for Minnesota’s game-winning goal. Max Jones, who missed the first two games of the season with a non-COVID related illness, claimed Grant’s spot on the fourth line for this game, alongside Nicolas Deslauriers and Benoit-Olivier Groulx. In addition, Josh Mahura also made his season debut, replacing Greg Pateryn (who was also waived this past weekend) as the third-line left-handed defenseman alongside Kevin Shattenkirk.

1st Period

The Ducks began the game skating extremely well and dominating the shot total. There were a number of post-whistle skirmishes throughout the period, which began almost immediately after the first whistle. The Flames scored their first goal almost midway through the period after a long rebound from a Ducks shot that turned into a breakaway opportunity for the Flames, which Blake Coleman buried past John Gibson to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.

Earlier in the period, the Ducks’ first powerplay of the game was eventful but was ended prematurely due to a Flames odd-man rush that was disrupted due to a hooking penalty by Jakob Silfverberg. However, with just seconds remaining on their second powerplay (approximately 16 minutes into the first period), Cam Fowler received a beautiful pass from Shattenkirk and ripped a low-trajectory wrist shot past Jacob Markstrom to tie the game at 1-1. This power-play goal improved the Ducks’ success rate to 36% for the season, a 4x increase in rate thus far compared to their league-worst 8.94% mark in 2020-21.

The period ended with a successful Ducks penalty kill after Mason McTavish was tagged with a slash against Johnny Gaudreau. The Ducks finished the period losing in both shot percentage (42.3% CF) and expected goals (35.3% xGF), but they generated several high danger chances and capitalized on their second powerplay chance of the game.

2nd Period

The Flames dominated both shot total and quality scoring chances throughout the second period. Several minutes into the period, Johnny Gaudreau delivered a deadly accurate cross-zone pass to Elias Lindholm, who lasered the puck past John Gibson for his second goal of the season, giving the Flames a 2-1 lead. The Ducks’ fourth line of Deslauriers-Groulx-Jones, which was badly outshot and out-chanced throughout the night, was on the ice for this goal. 

Midway through the period, a physical and bruising fight occurred between Deslauriers and Flames’ winger Milan Lucic, presumably instigated by Deslauries to try to spark his team. In addition, Mason McTavish left the game with a lower-body injury, which coincided with Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins shuffling his forward lines.

Overall, the Ducks once again struggled during this period, posting a 39.5 CF% and a nearly identical 35.8 xGF%, indicating their inability to generate shots and produce quality chances relative to those generated and produced by the Flames. A bright spot for the Ducks during this period was Troy Terry, who had several impressive controlled zone entries and one beautiful pass to Ryan Getzlaf setting up a quality chance towards the end of the period. John Gibson also continued his solid play in goal throughout the period.

3rd Period

Drama and theatrics were in ample supply during the third period. While the Flames continued to generally control play, John Gibson continued his stellar outing and helped keep the Ducks within a goal of tying the score. Finally, with 7:05 left in the game, Rickard Rakell instigated an offensive zone possession with a pass to Adam Henrique, who returned the favor and fed Rakell his second goal of the season to tie the game 2-2. 

Later in the period, the Ducks survived a trepidacious Flames power play which included several quality chances, culminating in a Johnny Gaudreau shot-pass towards Matthew Tkachuk which did not result in a goal. Also of note during this Flames power play was an injury to Hampus Lindholm on a blocked shot. In spite of this, and despite the extent to which the Ducks struggled in terms of shot volume and chance generation during this period (32.1 CF% and 28.4 xGF%, respectively), the Ducks showed excellent resolve in preventing further Flames chances, and ultimately navigated this contest to the Ducks’ first overtime frame of the season.

Overtime

Hampus Lindholm was still absent to start the overtime frame. John Gibson fought off a point-blank Johnny Gaudreau breakaway shot 45 seconds into the extra period. Immediately thereafter, the Ducks generated a high quality chance from Kevin Shattenkirk that was saved by Jacob Markstrom.

After several possession changes, the Ducks found a breakaway opportunity due to a Troy Terry steal in the defensive zone. Terry then led another successful zone entry and fired a perfect pass to Jamie Drysdale, who parked his third shot of the game into the back of the opposing net, giving the Ducks a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over the Flames.

Final Thoughts

While the Ducks were outshot and outchanced throughout tonight’s game, Rickard Rakell scored a clutch 3rd period goal that sent the Ducks to OT, where Troy Terry and Jamie Drysdale converted on a breakaway opportunity to ascend Anaheim to a critical early-season 3-2 OT victory over Calgary. In spite of the bleak picture painted by the advanced metrics, this is the kind of game the Ducks have routinely lost over the past few seasons. It will be fascinating to see their play going forward after this enthralling contest.

3 Stars

1. Troy Terry

2. John Gibson

3. Rickard Rakell

Up Next

The Ducks migrate even further north to take on the Edmonton Oilers (2-0-0, 4 points) Tuesday night, with the puck dropping at 6pm PT.

Note: all statistics included in this article are per Natural Stat Trick.