Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
When the Anaheim Ducks fell behind 3-0 in the first period, it felt like a bit of deja vu from Monday night’s game.
Only worse.
The Ducks fell hard to the Calgary Flames 7-2 Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The loss extends the Ducks losing streak to four games.
Coming off two straight losses, the Flames (26-33-7) managed to put up a four spot on the board in the first period on goals from Mark Giordano, T.J. Galiardi, Mike Cammalleri and Mikael Backlund. Backlund then added his second of the night 1:31 into the second frame to put the Flames up 5-0, permanently dashing any hope of a Ducks comeback.
Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino potted goals for the Ducks, both coming when the game was well out of reach.
Jonas Hiller got the start for Anaheim, but struggled mightily as he let in three goals on five shots. Rookie Frederik Andersen, who came in to replace Hiller, didn’t fare much better as he gave up four goals on 16 shots. The seven goals allowed were the most given up by Ducks goaltenders this season.
Since the Olympic break, the Ducks (43-16-7) have been an even 2-2-2. They have fallen out of first place in the Presidents’ Trophy race as well as in the conference race. Nevertheless, the Ducks built up plenty of cushion in the first half of the season to be in no danger of losing out on a top seed in the playoffs.
The Ducks will head to Colorado to take on the Avalanche on Friday in a rematch of opening night. The Avalanche gave first-year head coach Patrick Roy a memorable coaching debut as they rolled the Ducks 6-1 in a similar fashion to Wednesday night’s game.
Toward the end of the game back on Oct. 2, Roy engaged in a war of words with the Ducks bench that will surely be remembered come Friday night. And if that’s the case, you all better tune in.