Anaheim 3 Calgary 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jakob Silfverberg and Ryan Getzlaf each scored a power-play goal, John Gibson made 30 saves and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Calgary Flames 3-2 in Game 1 on Thursday night.
Rickard Rakell also scored for the Ducks, handing the Flames their sixth consecutive playoff loss at Honda Center.
Sean Monahan had a power-play goal, Sam Bennett scored and Brian Elliott made 38 saves for Calgary, which has lost three of its last four series openers.
Game 2 is Saturday night in Anaheim.
Silfverberg put the Ducks in front 3-2 with 2:13 left in the second period, snapping a wrist shot past Elliott to capitalize on a goaltender interference penalty against Lance Bouma.
The Flames had 1:14 of 5-on-3 play in the closing minutes of the game but could not find an equalizer. A sprawling Gibson stuffed Johnny Gaudreau’s dangerous shot with 17.8 seconds remaining.
The Flames took a 2-1 lead midway through the second, thanks to Bennett positioning himself perfectly at the top of the crease to flick in Kris Versteeg’s centring pass, only to give it back because of an inopportune line change.
Because of Kevin Bieksa’s alert pass the Ducks ended up with a 3-on-0 break, and Rakell cleaned up Getzlaf’s shot for his fourth career playoff goal.
A matchup of the two most-penalized teams in the regular season, it didn’t take long for those tendencies to be put on display. The Ducks had already scored before the tripping penalty against Dougie Hamilton was announced over the public address system, with Getzlaf launching a slapshot that deflected off Deryk Engelland and in over Elliott’s right shoulder for a 1-0 lead 52 seconds into the first.
But the Flames responded on their first power play, tying the game at 1 8:43 in when Monahan delivered a gorgeous tip-in off Versteeg’s pass. TJ Brodie kept the puck in the offensive zone to set up the score, knocking down Josh Manson’s attempted clearance with his glove and backhanding it off the blue-line before finding Versteeg.
Calgary was on the back foot for most of the opening period, largely because of its inability to stay out of the box. The Flames had to kill consecutive penalties midway through the first, including 20 seconds of a two-man advantage, and gave the Ducks six power plays in total.
NOTES: Getzlaf has 101 points in 105 career playoff appearances. … Recording two assists, it was Versteeg’s ninth career playoff game with multiple points. … Ducks D Shea Theodore had two assists for his first-ever points in the playoffs.
Dan Greenspan, The Canadian Press