Flames Score Early & Often, Sink Ducks 6-0

Calgary Flames 6 – Anaheim Ducks 0

Complete Stats

Scoring

Calgary Flames

1st: 8:15- Lindholm (25) (Stone/Brodie), 12:10- Backlund (9) (Mangiapane/Tkachuk), 13:39- Kylington (2) (Andersson), 19:05- Jankowski (4) (Brodie/Mangipane)

2nd: SHG 16:46- Backlund (10) (Unassisted)

3rd: 13:05- Jankowski (5) (Unassisted)

Anaheim Ducks

1st: None

2nd: None

3rd: None

Recap

Calgary rolled into Anaheim after losing a game they had no business losing Wednesday night to the Kings by the score of 5-3. Whatever was said in the locker room or bus worked as the Flames took out some of their frustrations on the Ducks, beating them handily by the score of 6-0.

The Flames came out strong and put Anaheim away in the first period. Calgary found the back of the net four times in the opening frame, getting goals from Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund, Oliver Kylington and Mark Jankowski. That kind of outburst has happened twice on this trip already (6 against both Vancouver and San Jose), but this was a victory the Flames desperately needed.

The Flames have a tendency to play down to their competition (see their 1-2-1 record against LA), but tonight that was a thing of the past. Calgary took advantage of Anaheim’s shaky goaltending and chased John Gibson from the game after the first period. The Ducks keeper surrendered four goals on 16 shots and looked like he would rather have been ANYWHERE but in goal. That was actually Anaheim as a whole. They looked disinterested in the first and by the time they started to show some life and a little push back Mikael Backlund squashed that with his second goal of the contest, a short handed marker that would make the score 5-0. Mark Jankowski would add the Flames 6th goal of the contest midway through the third period and the Flames would walk out of Anaheim with a commanding 6-0 victory.

Final Thoughts

You have to think morale is all over the place in the Flames locker room with the trade deadline approaching and Calgary playing such inconsistent hockey. This should be a good confidence builder for the Flames as they did what they had to do. They came into an arena where they typically play atrociously with predictable results and took care of business.

The Flames are also a team that starts slow, but tonight was the exact opposite. Their four first period goals was a sight for sore eyes and even though Anaheim has clearly given up on their season, you still need to play who’s on the schedule and get important points.

Cam Talbot had another outstanding night in net for the Flames. While he had a slow first period, he made some fantastic saves, stopping all 44 shots he faced. Talbot stood tall all night long and earned his 8th win of the season, his first shut out with the Flames and his second W over Anaheim this season.

Flame Of The Game

Mikael Backlund (C): Mikael Backlund is really turning it on lately and tonight was no exception. Backlund had two goals, including a shortie and was solid as always when on the PK. He logged 4:11 while the team was short handed and had four SOG.

What’s Next?

2/15: Calgary Flames vs Chicago Blackhawks, 8 PM MT

by Mark Parkinson