Calgary Flames 2 Anaheim Ducks 3

Complete Stats

Recap

At minimum this was an entertaining game for stretches of time. Calgary out shot the Ducks 39-24, yet could only solve Ryan Miller 2 times on the night and fell to Anaheim 3-2.

Things started off about as bad as they could go for the Flames as Mike Smith continued to play poorly, giving up 2 bad first period goals, putting the Flames in an early 2-0 hole. Smith looked to be fighting the puck for most of the night, he gave up huge rebounds and at times looked like he had no clue where the puck was, even while making a save.

As the Flames have done all season they dug in and got themselves back in the game with opportunistic hockey. Matthew Tkachuk would get the Flames first period marker by taking up residence out front and tipping a shot past Ryan Miller for his 7th of the season making the score 2-1 Anaheim.

And that was pretty much it for a long amount of time. The Flames and Ducks opened up in the second and third periods and took turns flying up and down the ice. While it was fun to watch, it provided nothing in terms of scoring. That would come in the third and on the stick of Mark Jankowski. The Flames were short handed when Janko tore off into the Anaheim end and fired a wicked wrist shot, beating Miller to tie the game 2-2. The goal had to feel good for Jankowski as he finally got his first goal of the season. More third period magic? No. That joy would be short lived as Ryan Getzlaf would score 27 seconds later, with what appeared to be every Flames player lying on the ice, giving Anaheim a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish. The Flames got a very late PP and had 6 attackers on the ice, but it seemed no one wanted to shoot and Anaheim played very solid defence keeping the Flames at bay and getting the win.

Scoring

Calgary Flames

1st: 17:10- PPG-Tkachuk (7) (Hamonic/Giordano)

2nd: None

3rd: 6:06- (SHG) Jankowski (1) (unassisted)

Anaheim Ducks

1st: 8:37- Silfverberg (5) (Cogliano/Larsson), 11:53- Henrique (4) (Manson/Aberg)

2nd: None

3rd: 6:33- Getzlaf (3) (Rakell/Fowler)

Final Thoughts

Calgary brought it for stretches tonight, but they didn’t play a full 60 minutes. Despite that, if Mike Smith doesn’t give up those 2 soft goals in the first the Flames may have walked out of Anaheim with their 5th straight win. Instead they came out on the losing end of a 3-2 score and the questions about the Flames #1 goaltender will only continue to grow.

Flame Of The Game

Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images

Mark Jankowski (C). Jankowski scored his first goal of the season and created a ton of opportunities in the third period for the Flames. Ice time in crunch time has been limited for the young Flames centre, but he certainly made the most of what he was given tonight. He finished 3rd on the Flames in SOG tonight with 3.

What’s Next?

11/10: Calgary Flames @ San Jose Sharks 7PM MT