DUCKS’ CURSE CONTINUES
Flames extend skid in Anaheim
The Calgary Flames swear they don’t fret about this so-called curse, don’t think about it, don’t pay it any attention. They can’t seem to stop it, either. Honda Center in Anaheim has been anything but The Happiest Place on Earth for the Flames. Their decade-plus losing skid in the Ducks’ home rink continued with Tuesday’s 3-1 setback.
“Our focus in that locker-room isn’t really on that streak,” insisted Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan after the morning skate. “We’ve got guys that weren’t a part of it, guys that have won in the building. We’re really just focused on getting our game back.
“The streak isn’t on the forefront of anybody’s mind.” It isn’t over, either. Mikael Backlund scored Tuesday’s lone tally for the visitors in a game that turned nasty in the third. Fans chanted “You can’t win here” in the final minute and change.
Rugged rearguard Kevin Bieksa scored the game-winner for the Ducks, while wingers Patrick Eaves and Chris Wagner also tickled twine for the hosts.
There was more bad news for Calgary.
In just his third start since late February, backup netminder Chad Johnson departed in the opening stanza with a lower-body injury and did not return.
The Flames (44-32-4) have already secured an invite to the NHL’s annual spring fling, but they have now dropped three of their past four outings, with the exception being Friday’s playoff-clinching victory over the San Jose Sharks.
The Ducks are a potential first-round opponent and if that matchup materializes, it will be frightening for a Flames team that lost four of five meetings with the Quack Pack during the regular season, including both halves of a home-and-home set that started with Sunday’s 4-3 decision at the Saddledome.
It won’t ease any concerns that the Ducks won the past two without the services of a pair of topfour defenceman, with Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen both missing consecutive contests due to upper-body ailments. (The Ducks also lost defenceman Cam Fowler after a knee-on-knee collision with Calgary captain Mark Giordano early in the third, the incident that sparked a handful of scraps.)
And since the Flames will open the playoffs on the road, they certainly don’t want it to be in Anaheim.
They simply can’t win at Honda Center.
The Ducks already own the record for the longest home-ice winning streak against one opponent and they padded that stat again Tuesday, making it 25 straight regular-season triumphs over the Flames at Honda Center.
The Flames did defeat the Ducks on their home sheet during a playoff battle in 2006, but they’ve suffered 27 consecutive losses — including five in the post-season — since then. Yikes. Johnson might believe in the curse after he was injured on what appeared to be a routine save in Tuesday’s opening period.
Johnson flashed his left pad to deny iron man winger Andrew Cogliano. During an icing stoppage just a few seconds later, athletic therapist Kent Kobelka trotted onto the ice to tend to the netminder in his crease.
After only 5:19 of action and that single save, Johnson headed for the exits and Elliott’s night off was suddenly anything but.
A credit to his support cast, he faced only two attempts for the remainder of the period, and Backlund buried a rebound at the other end for the opening strike.
The Ducks would flip the script in the second.
They evened things up on a crafty faceoff play just 48 ticks after the intermission, with captain Ryan Getzlaf cranking a backhand at the drop of the puck and Eaves tidying up the leftovers.
Bieksa scored the go-ahead goal on a slapper from the right circle, squeezing the puck under Elliott’s armpit on the blocker side. The Flames challenged that the hosts might have been offside, but it was ruled a good goal after a lengthy review.
Logan Shaw, who scored Sunday’s game-winner, teed up fellow fourth-liner Wagner for an insurance marker in the third.
The Flames are now headed up Interstate 5 for Thursday’s date with the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center (8:30 p.m., Sportsnet 360/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).
Our focus in that lockerroom isn’t really on that streak. We’ve got guys that weren’t a part of it, guys that have won in the building.