Calgary Flames traded Anaheim Ducks after a fantastic performance. Geoff Ward’s boys won this one with 6-0, annihilating the hosts in California. It was by far the best game they played this year.
Everything was working correctly for the Flames, starting with the goalie Cam Talbot, the defense, up to the attack and execution. The fans at the Honda Center, witnessed another loss, only this time it was pretty frustrating.
The Ducks had 44 shots towards Flames’ net, and a fantastic Talbot stopped all of them. Some of them were easy, some were excellent, but none passed by the 32-year old from Caledonia, Ontario.
“I felt like I controlled the game the best I could,” Talbot said. “I didn’t leave too much laying around for them to bang in. A lot of their shots came from the outside, makes it easy for me to control it.”
This was hist first shoutout in 13 months, and the 21st since he entered the league. Also, 44 saves are the new personal best, making this the best night of his pro career.
His Flames came flying into this event, knocking out the home team in the first 20 minutes. The game started a bit quiet before the fireworks began. Four goals took place in less than 17 minutes, with the note that Calgary gained a 0-3 lead in a little bit more than five minutes.
Elias Lindholm opened the show at 8:15 inside the event, tapping the puck across the goal line. Shortly after, at 12:20, Andrew Mangiapane assisted Mikael Backlund, who scored his first of two goals last night, and doubled the lead.
Some 89 seconds afterward, it was 0-3, once Oliver Kylington added another goal to guests’ tally. In those moments, Honda Center was awfully quiet, and the only thing you could hear was the noise coming from the ice.
To indicate a complete disaster, Mark Jankowski scored for 0-4, 55 seconds before the end of the opening period. In between the frames, Anaheim’s head coach Dallas Eakins decided to switch goalies, pulling out John Gibson, and sending Ryan Miller on the ice.
“We talked about how important it was to come out and play a solid first period, get into the game early. I thought the guys did a good job of that.” stated Calgary’s coach.
Gibson had 12 saves in 16 shots, while Miller had a bit better percentage, 14 saves in the same number of attempts.
Backlund and Jankowski delivered two more goals until the end of the game. The first came at 3:24 to go in the second period, when Backlund scored shorthanded for the guests, and Jankowski added another one at 6:55 inside the last frame. It seems that the 25-year old is entering his prime form, as he now has five goals in the previous seven clashes,
The Flames are now heading back to Canada, after a four-game road-trip, during which they recorded three wins and a loss. This Saturday, Calgary host the Chicago Blackhawks. Meanwhile, Anaheim Ducks are also traveling to Canada, only to Vancouver, to face the Canucks.
