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Ducks Take 2-0 Series Lead, Contain Flames

Ducks

Two down, two to go.

The Anaheim Ducks took game two of the first round against the Calgary Flames but it was not as easy as Randy Carlyle’s team would have liked. The Ducks took an early 2-0 lead but a strong end of the first and momentum-shifting second period helped the Flames get back into the game. The third period was frenetic and in the end, Anaheim came out on top with a fortunate Ryan Getzlaf goal from a deflected pass, giving the Ducks the 2-0 series lead.

Anaheim got off to a perfect start. The Ducks broke through quickly with a goal from Jakob Silfverberg, who sniped a shot from the right wall past Brian Elliott.

Then, fellow Swede Rikard Rakell doubled the lead with a wrap-around goal on an unexpecting Elliott.

The first period was a physical one which featured multiple after-the-whistle scuffles but no true fight.

With 1:58 left in the first period the Ducks got a double major power play after Matthew Tkachuk’s high stick struck Patrick Eaves and drew blood. However, the power play did not start out the way the Ducks would have hoped.

About 30 seconds into the man advantage, Calgary scored a short-handed goal through Mikael Backlund, who zig-zagged in front of John Gibson and slipped the puck beyond the Ducks goaltender to cut Anaheim’s lead in half.

The period ended with Anaheim up 2-1 with momentum starting to shift towards the Flames, but the Ducks would still have just over two minutes of a power play left to start the second period.
The Ducks failed to capitalize on the four-minute advantage and momentum seemed to shift in favor of the Flames.

On the Flames first power play of the night they had chance after chance and finally broke through after some patient puck movement and a quick reaction shot from Sean Monahan beat Gibson to tie the game.

There was a long delay in the middle of the second as an official review was called after a puck went in while Gibson’s goal was crashed into, but the referees blew the play dead. The Flames thought they had a goal but the referees said the goal was not good and the review confirmed the original call, keeping the game 2-2.

Even without the goal counting, Calgary certainly had all the momentum in the second period, outshooting Anaheim 15-6.

The Flames had a couple of power plays in the final five minutes of the second period and a fight broke out just before the end of the period between Kevin Bieksa and Michael Ferland.

The third period had a fast pace to it with both teams getting chances but Anaheim looked the more eager to get back in front.

The Ducks came close several times in the first half of the period but could not get an open enough look to get the puck past Elliott. Anaheim’s energy was much better in the the third period than it was in the second.

Anaheim got a power play with over five minutes left in regulation for a holding the stick penalty and this time, the Ducks capitalized.

Ryan Getzlaf tried to pass the puck across the face of the goal but the puck redirected off of Lance Bouma’s skate and into the Flames net, giving the Ducks the 3-2 lead.

Anaheim got another power play after a TJ Brodie cross-check on Ryan Kesler. The power play lasted until 38 seconds left in regulation, which made it impossible for the Flames to pull Elliott and add an extra attacker until the expiration of the penalty.

The Ducks held on to take game two of the series to possess a 2-0 series lead going to Calgary for games three and four. Game three is on Monday in Calgary at 7 p.m.

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