Ducks eliminated from playoff contention, fall again to Flames

CALGARY, Alberta – With seven games to play, the Anaheim Ducks finally ran out of rope.

The Calgary Flames went ahead with a shorthanded goal in the second period and coasted to a 4-1 win, which mathematically eliminated the Ducks from the playoff race, on Thursday at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Anaheim will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a seventh consecutive season.

Hometown kid Olen Zellweger tied it up in the first period with Anaheim’s only goal.

John Gibson made 23 saves before leaving after two periods with a lower-body injury for the third time in six starts since the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Lukáš Dostál made eight saves in relief.

Blake Coleman scored a shorthanded goal and a power play goal, and Nazem Kadri and Kevin Rooney each tallied for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 26 saves in the victory.

Anaheim (33-34-8, 74 points) were officially eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention after falling back to 15 points out of the final wild card spot with seven games to play–just 14 potential points.

The Ducks were officially eliminated last season with 14 games to play and two seasons ago with 12 games to play. Anaheim last clinched a playoff berth on April 4, 2018.

The Ducks again fell back under .500 after failing to go above the mark since March 4.

Anaheim next finish off its two-game Canadian road trip in Vancouver on Saturday afternoon.

It took just 16 seconds for Calgary to jump on the Ducks on Tuesday.

Yegor Sharangovic chipped the puck around a pinching Jacob Trouba at the Flames’ blue line, and Nazem Kadri took it the other way on a two-on-one to rip the game-opening strike, 1-0.

Anaheim evened it up on the rush midway through the opening frame.

Troy Terry picked up a turnover in the defensive zone and sent Ryan Strome up the left boards. Strome dropped it to Terry, who sent it back down to Strome, and Strome found a streaking Olen Zellweger at the far post to stuff it in, 1-1.

Zellweger netted his seventh goal of the year and second in four games. The Calgary native has four points in those four games.

Terry’s helper gave him sole possession of 10th place on the Ducks all-time assists list with 168, ahead of Andy McDonald’s 187 and behind Rickard Rakell’s 185.

In the second period, the Ducks’ power play woes surfaced again with the Flames breaking the tie shorthanded.

Blake Coleman deflected a Jackson LaCombe cross-zone pass, and Coleman chased the puck into the neutral zone for the breakaway, which he buried past Gibson, 2-1.

Five minutes later, Calgary doubled the lead, as Ryan Lomberg’s wraparound attempt rebounded into the slot and Kevin Rooney put it home, 3-1.

The Ducks went 0-for-2 on the power play in the second period with just one shot. Anaheim has just three power play goals in its last 35 attempts.

Gibson was run into in the final minute of the second period, as Radko Gudas grabbed a rushing Martin Pospisil for a penalty which sent Pospisil into the Ducks netminder.

Gibson finished the period but was replaced by Dostál for the third period.

The first shot Dostál saw in the third period was a power play goal, as Coleman netted his second of the game on the rush from the right circle, 4-1.

Game Notes:

• Anaheim defenseman Pavel Mintyukov was a healthy scratch for the first time since Feb. 23. It was his 13th scratch this season. Oliver Kylington slid into his place alongside Drew Helleson. Kylington, a former Flame, played in his third game as a Duck.

• Anaheim forward Nikita Nesterenko was also a healthy scratch, just his second scratch in nine games since being called up from AHL San Diego. Brett Leason took his spot on the fourth line with Jansen Harkins and Isac Lundestrom.