Recap: Ducks Get Scorched in 8-3 Loss to Flames

A game that began with optimism went off the rails in the blink of an eye with a nightmarish second period that doomed the Ducks in an 8-3 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday. The Ducks gave up five unanswered goals in a middle frame that ironically began with Ryan Kesler evening the score, 1-1, on his 10th goal of the season. But the jubilation was quickly replaced with discombobulation when the Ducks gave up those five goals in a span of 6:04. The loss dropped Anaheim's record to 12-9-5 (29 pts.) overall and 5-5-4 on the road.

Kesler finished the game with two goals to give him 11 on the season - tops on the team, and Logan Shaw scored his first goal in a Ducks sweater late in regulation.
The Ducks will return home with three points out of a possible six from this three-game Western Canadian road trip that began with a 3-1 victory in Vancouver on Thursday and a 3-2 overtime loss in Edmonton last night.
Johnny Gaudreau opened the scoring in his first game back from missing the past 10 with a broken finger and finished with two points. Troy Brouwer, Alex Chiasson, Matt Stajan, Sam Bennett, Dougie Hamilton, Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano tacked on goals for the Flames, who increased their win streak to three games. Chad Johnson made 30 saves to improve his record to 10-4-1.
It took only one shift for Gaudreau to put his stamp on the game when he sent what appeared to be an innocent wrist shot toward Bernier. The shot handcuffed the veteran goaltender and snuck between his body and arm just 2:09 into the game to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
A persistent forecheck from Anaheim's most consistent trio paid off with the game-tying goal 2:50 into the second period. The play started when Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano hounded Flames defenseman TJ Brodie behind the net. The offensive defenseman coughed it up to Silfverberg, who found Kesler alone in the high slot. In one motion - much like he did last night - Kesler spun around and hammered one past Johnson for his 10th goal of the season.

Calgary's power play, which had struggled mightily on home ice all season, came through when Monahan's shot in the high slot got tipped by Brouwer to beat Bernier at the 11:28 mark of the second period to put the Flames back up, 2-1.
The Flames lit the lamp again just 53 seconds later when Chiasson outdueled Antoine Vermette for a loose puck in front of a sprawled Bernier to increase the lead to 3-1.
Still riding a wave of momentum, Calgary scored its third unanswered goal of the period when Stajan deflected Dennis Wideman's point shot for his third goal and eighth point of the season. The blitzkrieg of goals came in a span of 1:27 for the Flames, who hadn't scored four or more goals in a game since a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on October 28.
The Flames made the Ducks pay again, this time on the power play, when Bennett found time and space in front of Bernier to easily chip one over his shoulder to make it 5-1 at the 16:37 mark of the middle frame.
Not wanting to feel left out, Hamilton wired a perfect slap shot over the shoulder and under the crossbar to increase Calgary's lead to 6-1 in a stunning five-goal outburst.
The third period began with a flurry of fisticuffs when Chiasson decided to drop the gloves with Joseph Cramarossa. Seemingly unaware of Cramarossa's fighting prowess, Chiasson took a handful of rights to the face before the fight was called. Chiasson ended up heading to the locker room after the fight, but eventually returned.
Garnet Hathaway's elbowing penalty on Hampus Lindholm on the following shift set off another fight, this one involving Jared Boll and Deryk Engelland. Hathaway was also given a 10-minute misconduct.
After the dust settled, Monahan found the back of the net to put the Flames up 7-1 when he snuck backdoor on Lindholm to beat Bernier with a one-timer shortside.
Calgary added more salt to the wound on a 2-on-0 shorthanded opportunity that Giordano finished to put the Flames up 8-1 with under five minutes remaining in regulation.
Kesler scored his second goal of the night on the power play with 3:30 remaining in regulation to place him atop the Ducks with 11 goals. His two-goal performance was the 33rd time in his career that he had tallied two or more goals.

Kesler, who led Anaheim in scoring with 14 points (7g/7a) in November and co-led the NHL in power-play goals (4) and power-play points (7), now has three goals in three games this month.
Shaw scored his first goal as a Duck just 20 seconds after the Kesler PPG to make the score 8-3. Shaw's goal was a follow-up to his own shot that originally went wide, but his persistence paid off when he was able to jam the carom past Johnson, who was stationed at the far post.

The Ducks will return home to open a three-game homestand beginning Wednesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
NOTE: Rickard Rakell did not play due to an upper-body injury, and is considered day to day. Cramarossa returned to the lineup after missing the past seven games with a lower-body injury.