Ducks 4 Flames 2
CALGARY — Corey Perry scored twice and added an assist as the Anaheim Ducks dealt Calgary’s playoff hopes a crushing blow with a 4-2 victory Wednesday night over the Flames.
Perry scored his league-leading 45th goal of the season by getting a piece of Cam Fowler’s low point shot while on the power play late in the first period. That goal broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Ducks a lead they would not relinquish.
Perry added an empty-netter while Lubomir Visnovsky and Bobby Ryan, with his 33rd, also scored for Anaheim (44-28-5), which has won seven of its last eight to move up to sixth the Western Conference.
Jarome Iginla, with his 37th, and Mark Giordano had the goals for Calgary (38-29-11), which remains tied with Dallas for ninth in the West with the Stars holding three games in hand.
Calgary is three points back of the eighth place Chicago Blackhawks, who have played two less games than the Flames.
With 5:10 remaining in the second period and Anaheim hanging on to a 2-1 lead, Calgary’s Matt Stajan thought he tied it. The puck bounced off his shoulder and into the crease where it got caught up on top of Anaheim goalie Ray Emery and a couple of diving Ducks players crashing the net.
The Flames players celebrated, but there was no call of a goal from the officials. It went to a video review that lasted over five minutes before the ruling finally came of no goal, drawing a loud chorus of boos from the sell-out Scotiabank Saddledome crowd of 19,289.
Four minutes later, Visnovsky made it 3-1 on a slap shot from the blue-line that deflected off Cory Sarich and passed a screened Miikka Kiprusoff.
The Flames got a two-man advantage to start the third period and got a goal from Giordano at 42 seconds to get back to within one.
But Calgary couldn’t get the tying goal past Emery, who continues his sensational return to the NHL improving to a perfect 6-0. The 28-year-old has been spectacular since returning to the NHL after signing with the Ducks as a free agent in February.
Calgary, which unexpectedly got back into the playoff picture with a two-month surge, is 2-5-2 in its last nine games and all but eliminated from post-season contention.
Anaheim fell behind early but struck back with a pair of power-play goals to take a 2-1 lead to the first intermission.
After failing to convert a 47-second two-man advantage, Ryan grabbed a loose puck behind the Flames net and curled out front, tucking a shot inside the far post, to tie it 1-1 at 8:05. Iginla scored on the Flames first shot at 2:58. The Flames captain took Alex Tanguay’s pass and snapped a shot inside the far goal post.
Notes: Kiprusoff has given up 10 first period goals in his last five starts . . .The Ducks used four different goalies in sweeping the four-game season series for first time. The Flames previous defeats were to Curtis McElhinney, now with Ottawa, Jonas Hiller and Dan Ellis . . . The Flames announced the signing of Finnish goaltender Joni Ortio, Calgary’s sixth round draft pick in 2009, who had been playing with TPS in the Finnish elite league.