Ducks can’t complete rally, lose to Flames in a shootout

ANAHEIM — The quality betwixt an elite NHL squad and a squad trying to scope that level was connected show for each to spot Friday astatine Honda Center, and it was minuscule. The Calgary Flames arrived arsenic 1 of the league’s hottest teams and the Ducks skated close with and sometimes conscionable up of them.

The Ducks had a lead, but past mislaid it.

The Flames had a lead, but past mislaid it.

In the end, they needed a shootout to settee matters.

Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk scored successful the shootout and the Flames took a 4-3 triumph from the Ducks aft the hockey crippled ended successful a tie. Trevor Zegras and Kevin Shattenkirk were denied successful the shootout and the Ducks’ two-game winning streak came to an end.

The Pacific Division-leading Flames (15-4-5) won their 3rd successful a row.

The third-place Ducks are 13-8-4, including 6-1-2 against part opponents.

“Offensively, we consciousness similar we tin play with immoderate team,” Ducks close helping Rickard Rakell said. “We person shown that truthful far, but our wide game, we person immoderate country to marque immoderate improvements and get adjacent better. We’re inactive having a bully feeling successful our locker room. We consciousness we tin get amended arsenic we determination along.

“That’s encouraging.”

Rakell’s extremity with 36 seconds near successful what had been a rocky 2nd play ignited the Ducks’ rally, cutting their shortage to 3-2. Vinni Lettieri’s power-play extremity 2:04 into the third, a laser of a one-timed changeable disconnected a cross-ice walk from Trevor Zegras, pulled the Ducks adjacent 3-3 with plentifulness of clip remaining.

The Ducks needed lone 54 seconds to instrumentality a 1-0 pb successful the 2nd period, with Sonny Milano sending a escaped puck into the backmost of Dan Vladar’s net. Josh Manson’s perimeter changeable pinballed astir successful beforehand of Vladar earlier Milano smacked it down him for his sixth extremity successful his 20th crippled this season.

Zegras besides assisted.

He had 3 assists successful Wednesday’s triumph implicit Vegas.

Calgary past seized power of the crippled with goals from Blake Coleman, Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan, taking a 3-1 pb portion looking arsenic if not the amended squad past surely the much opportunistic team. The Ducks’ antiaircraft lapses proved costly and the Flames took afloat advantage.

“We played precise good successful the archetypal play and precise good successful the 3rd period,” Ducks manager Dallas Eakins said. “In the 2nd period, we got distant from our game. That’s a reminder that if we privation to beryllium an elite squad we person to play a definite way. If we’re not going to bash it, we’re going to precise rapidly get into trouble.”

The archetypal play was scoreless, but that didn’t mean the opening 20 minutes lacked action. The Ducks deed the robust 3 times and the Flame struck it doubly arsenic the teams traded chances lone to travel up empty. The play ended with Calgary’s Erik Gudbranson knocking down Adam Henrique.

Henrique was forced from the crippled successful the 2nd play with an unspecified lower-body injury. His presumption for the Ducks’ upcoming five-game travel wasn’t instantly certain. The travel begins Monday successful Washington and continues with stops successful Buffalo, Columbus, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

The Ducks were already without Ryan Getzlaf, who sat retired for the 2nd consecutive crippled due to the fact that of a lower-body injury. Getzlaf is expected to marque the trip, but the Ducks termed his presumption week-to-week aft helium was wounded successful the archetypal play of Tuesday’s shootout triumph implicit the Kings.

“It conscionable seems similar each nighttime is simply a large test,” Eakins said. “I don’t attraction who you’re playing. We’ve had teams travel successful present that are mode beneath america successful the standings and I deliberation that’s a antithetic benignant of a test. A squad similar this comes in, it’s a test. It’s nonstop. We conscionable played 3 games successful 4 nights.

“The docket has been relentless.”