Recap: Aberg Strikes Twice Again, But It's Not Enough in 3-2 Defeat

ANAHEIM - A Ducks team that was once riding high on the strength of a hot start has just as quickly fallen on hard times, suffering a sixth straight defeat tonight at Honda Center.

The elation of a late game-tying goal was promptly squashed with an answer from the visiting Philadelphia Flyers in a disheartening 3-2 defeat that sent Anaheim on a 0-5-1 skid. That streak comes on the heels of Anaheim's 5-1-1 start to the campaign.
Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was asked minutes after the defeat what his Ducks can do to break out of the doldrums. "Just keep going," he said. "All we can do is get back to work in practice and recognize what we're doing wrong, and fixing it."
Things were looking dire for Anaheim with a lengthy one-goal deficit and time running down in the third, but a late Philadelphia penalty opened the door to the tying goal. Cam Fowler's shot from the right wing circle deflected off the stick shaft of Pontus Aberg and snuck by goalie Brian Elliott for Aberg's second of the game and fourth in the last two.

But just as that goal was being announced, Nolan Patrick gave the Flyers the lead back for good with a wide open one-timer from the slot, and the Ducks failed to score again in the waning moments.
"It's brutal," Getzlaf said. "That's as high and low as you get in a matter of seconds. It's something we need to push for again, push to be ready by the drop of the puck for the next one."
Philadelphia opened the scoring early, just over three minutes into it on the power play, when Sean Couturier redirected a shot that sailed past a screened Ryan Miller (33 saves).
Anaheim tied it just 1:45 into the second period on an Aberg shot from the right wing that beat Elliott glove side. He became the first Anaheim player to record consecutive multi-goal games since Daniel Winnik in January of 2013.
"I'm going hard every day to improve my game," Aberg said, "and getting to those areas where you can score."
Aberg, who was claimed off waivers by the Ducks at the beginning of the month, had just five goals in his first 73 games with Edmonton, Nashville and Anaheim.

Seven minutes later Philadelphia went in front again on a tip by Ivan Provorov off a Claude Giroux point shot, and they held that lead until the Ducks finally broke through with 2:12 left.
"We have to execute more with the puck," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "The second period was our nemesis tonight. We were forcing pucks and turning pucks over five to ten feet inside the opposition's blueline. We were trying to make plays in cute areas. They didn't really have a complicated game plan. They were forcing us to dump the puck. We got stubborn and stopped doing that."
Anaheim will look to bounce back Thursday night vs. the Rangers at Honda Center.