The Ducks will reunite with a division rival for the finale of a five-game northwest road trip, tonight facing off with the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome.
PUCK DROP: 6 P.M. PT | TV: BALLY SPORTS SOCAL | DUCKS STREAM | NHL GAMECENTER
Anaheim heads to Calgary hoping to salvage two points from the road trip after back-to-back losses last weekend to Edmonton and Vancouver. The Ducks bounced back from a 6-1 rout against the Oilers Saturday for a valiant effort in Sunday's national matinee against the first-place Canucks, taking a 2-2 tie deep into the third period, but a costly defensive breakdown would lead to the game's decisive goal.
"We had a power play with five minutes left and didn't get a shot on net," head coach Greg Cronin said. "You think you've got some good fortune there and we don't capitalize on that.
"They worked and they battled back. We got a little tired there with about 10 minutes to go and they took momentum back. We survived that and then we just gave them one. You just can't give those goals up. It cost us the game."
A bright spot for Anaheim came early in the third period though as part of a sudden two-goal comeback, with rookie Olen Zellweger scoring his first NHL goal with his parents in attendance.
“It's kind of like a dream for everyone to score their first NHL goal, so I'm pretty happy to be able to do it,” Zellweger said postgame. “I came off the bench and I kind of jumped in the play, and [Isac Lundestrom] made a good drop pass to me. I kind of just got some room there, maybe they had a miscommunication, and [saw] a little spot there and it went in.”
Zellweger has four points in his first 18 NHL games, and two in his last five outings. He also became the sixth Duck to score their first NHL goal this season, tops in the NHL, joining Leo Carlsson, Tristan Luneau, Pavel Mintyukov, Jackson LaCombe and Urho Vaakanainen.
Mason McTavish would tie the game shortly after Zellweger's goal, setting up a dramatic finish in Vancouver, but power forward Dakota Joshua's second of the afternoon came with 2:13 left in regulation.
“I thought overall we put some pressure on them,” Zellweger said. “I thought the whole game was pretty competitive from us. Not what we wanted at the end, but I'm sure we'll continue to build on our effort and competitiveness here.”
The loss dropped Anaheim to 24-47-4 on the season with eight games still to play.
On the other side tonight is a Calgary team that's fallen out of the Western Conference playoff picture after a disappointing 5-10-0 record in March.
The Flames snapped a five-game winless skid Tuesday though with a 4-2 win over the Kings, converting for three power-play goals against LA's top-ranked penalty kill.
"We all know what situation we're in," defenseman Rasmus Andersson told NHL.com's Aaron Vickers. "It's going to take a miracle to get into the playoffs, but we still show up on a night like [Saturday] and we block shots, we hit, we play a physical game, we're all over a really good team for 60 minutes. It was one of those nights when you look around and you're proud to be on this team."
Calgary (34-34-5, 73 points) sits sixth in the Pacific Division, 14 points back of a Wild Card position.
The Flames also claimed the only meeting with Anaheim so far this season, a 3-0 shutout win at Honda Center back in December.
