Recap: Ducks Get Their Looks, Come Up Short in 2-1 Loss to Flames

In arguably one of the Ducks' best road games of the season, a turnover late in regulation proved to be the difference in a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday night. The Ducks gave the Western Conference-leading Flames everything they could handle in a back-and-forth contest between former playoff foes. The Ducks skated, they battled and rarely did they give the Flames an inch. But with under four minutes left on the clock, a giveaway at the far blueline resulted in a 2-on-1 rush the other way, where Andrew Mangiapane scored the go-ahead goal and eventual game winner.

The loss snapped Anaheim's two-game winning streak and prevented the Ducks (24-28-9, 57 points) from inching closer towards the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. They had plenty of chances tonight, firing 26 shots on Flames goaltender Mike Smith, but Derek Grant was the only one able to score. His goal evened the score at a goal apiece at the 6:13 mark of the second period.

TJ Brodie opened the scoring for the Flames, who pushed their winning streak to four straight and improved their home record this season to 20-5-5. Mangiapane's goal came with 3:29 left in regulation and gave the Flames their 38th victory of the season (38-16-7, 83 points).
"I thought we played a pretty good game," said Carter Rowney, who earned the lone assist on Grant's goal. "We had some moments of good hockey. We can't let it frustrate us. We have to get right back at it."
Ryan Miller stopped 26 of 28 shots, none better than a highlight-reel blocker save on Austin Czarnik in the first period. Appearing in his 967th career game, Corey Perry passed Teemu Selanne for sole possession of second on the all-time franchise games played list. Meanwhile, tonight marked Michael Del Zotto's 600th career NHL game. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury, and his status is day to day.

Despite the loss, Rowney was pleased with the way the Ducks performed. "I think we had our chances," he said. "We were creating some offense. They capitalized on a couple lucky bounces. They pushed hard, and we had to find a way to push back in the third. We were getting our chances, but they just weren't going into the back of the net."
The Ducks will finish off a back-to-back set tomorrow night in Edmonton against an Oilers team that will be without Connor McDavid, who earlier today was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy.