Recap: Ducks Can't Contain Flames in 5-1 Loss at Honda Center

The Ducks could not dig themselves out of an early hole tonight at Honda Center, falling 5-1 to the division rival Calgary Flames.
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The loss, Anaheim's fourth in its last five games, dropped the club to 12-19-3 on the season and 1-3-1 five games into an eight-game homestand.
Frank Vatrano scored the lone goal for Anaheim, a second-period power-play marker that brought the Ducks back within two. Jakob Silfverberg and Max Comtois added assists. John Gibson made 38 saves.
Nick Ritchie, Troy Stecher, Rasmus Andersson, Elias Lindholm and Andrew Magniapiane scored for the Flames, who improved to 32-25-15 on the season and moved within four points of the Western Conference's second Wild Card spot. Tyler Toffoli tallied three assists.
Goaltender Dan Vladar earned the victory in net, his 13th of the season, stopping 19-of-20 Anaheim shots.
Calgary scored the opening goal before the game was even a minute old, courtesy of the former Duck Ritchie. As defenseman Noah Hanifin fired a shot from the point, Ritchie parked himself in front of Gibson, swatting home the rebound from the doorstep before a Ducks defender could clear it to safety.
The Flames have scored six goals in the first minute of games this season, tied for the most in the NHL.
Once the 10th overall pick in the NHL Draft, Ritchie played his first 287 NHL games as a Duck, most notably scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the 2017 Western Conference Semifinals.
Ritchie and his older brother, Brett, have both scored against the Ducks this season as members of the Flames. The two brothers were on opposite sides of a trade just prior to the league deadline last month, becoming the first NHL brothers to be traded for one another in league history.
With the assist, Hanifin has points in six straight games (2-4=6) and 34 points on the season, the second-best total of his eight-year NHL career.
Stecher doubled the lead late in the period. Also acquired by Calgary at the trade deadline, the smooth-skating blueliner capitalized on a Ducks defensive zone breakdown, collecting an errant pass from the far wing, stepping into the faceoff circle and, through traffic, beating Gibson over the shoulder to the short side.
The goal was Stecher's first as a Flame, his first in the NHL this season and also his first since Feb. 2022. He's played for four teams since that goal 13 months ago, the Red Wings, Kings, Coyotes and Flames.
Huberdeau has points in five of his last six games (2-4=6).
The Flames led 2-0 after the opening period and would preserve that lead throughout the middle frame, when both sides traded early power-play goals.
Andersson temporarily gave the visitors a three-goal cushion, getting all of a one-time pass from Toffoli and placing his slap shot perfectly over Gibson's glove into the top corner.
The 26-year-old Andersson has nine points in his last six games (3-6=9) and is now two points shy of his career-high (50), set last season.
The former King Toffoli, who scored against his original NHL team last night in Los Angeles, owns points in four straight games (4-5=9), including his first four-point night since 2015.
The Ducks answered with a power-play goal a few minutes later on a terrific shot of their own, this one off the stick of Vatrano. Just seconds after the explosive winger was shut down on a one-timer, the puck found him again and this time he didn't miss, ringing the back bar behind Vladar and getting the bounce over the line to make it a 3-1 game.

Vatrano's goal was his 17th of the season, one short of his total from each of the past two years.
With the primary assist, Silfverberg moved within seven points of matching his longtime teammate and countryman, Rickard Rakell, for seventh-most in Ducks history.
Comtois drew the secondary assist for points in three of his last four appearances (1-2=3) and seven points in his last nine games (3-4=7).
The Flames quelled any hopes of an Anaheim comeback in the first minute of the third when Lindholm beat Gibson blocker side off the rush for a power-play goal and a three-goal lead for the visitors.
Lindholm has 20-plus goals in four of his last five seasons, and scored 19 in the shortened 2020-21 season. He has six points in his last four games, including two multi-point efforts.
Center Mikael Backlund assisted on both power-play goals for his 10th multi-point game of the season. The 14th-year Flame tallied his 300th career assist last night vs. the Kings.
Magnapiane capped the scoring with a breakaway goal, accepting a pass from Toffoli at the Anaheim blue line and solving Gibson with a move to the forehand.
With three assists, Toffoli recorded his fifth three-point night of the season. The 30-year-old winger has career highs in points (29-36=65), assists, power-play goals (10) and power-play points (24) this year.
The Ducks continue their homestand Thursday against Winnipeg.