Bad calls happen all the time.  So do good calls, but it is the bad ones that people remember. 

The Ducks were victims of a bad call on Sunday in a 3-2 loss against Boston, with a goal waived off due to alleged goaltender interference.  While there is still some complaining about the call going on, what is being missed is the fact that the Ducks made a couple of critical errors that led to two quick goals by Boston in the middle period.

Eliminate those errors, and the bad call doesn't matter.   The Ducks still have not figured that out, however.

Boston was playing the second of back to back games and the Ducks should have capitalized.  They did not.   This is also why the Bruins are the defending Stanley Cup champions and the Ducks are not even in the running.

In the second period Zdeno Chara and Benoit Pouliot scored 1:22 apart.   Francois Beauchemin failed to clear the puck from the zone.  Chara took his shot from just inside the blue liine and to add insult to injury, Beauchemin tipped it past Jonas Hiller at 4:37. 

Pouliot's goal at 5:59 made it 2-0.  Boston was 34-0-0 this season when taking a two goal lead at any point.  Those stats did not change.

Teemu Selanne put the Ducks on the board with a power play goal at 9:11.  It was his 248th power play goal, more than a third of his 661 goals.   The 41 year old, who could be playing in his last season (or not), is now fourth place all time on the power play goals list and only two more will put him in third. 

"There's more inside me that wants to play than retire," Selanne recently confessed. "But it's got to be 100 percent when I make the decision."

Selanne will have a lot of time to make that decision, because the Ducks are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.  It would take the Ducks winning every single game and all the teams ahead of them to lose every single one.  Not happening.

The Ducks appeared to tie up the game in the third period at 7:22.  Matt Beleskey had his puck cross the line past Marty Turco, the former Dallas Stars netminder whom the Ducks have seen more than enough.  The referees waived off the goal, stating that Andrew Cogliano had interfered with Turco.

Can you say livid coach?  Bruce Boudreau was not happy with the call. 

"I was ready to hit him," said Boudreau of his intentions towards the ref.  "What do you want me to say? It cost us. It cost us the game. Sure they got another goal, but, I mean, we would have played completely different if it was a 2-2 tie with 10 minutes to go."

Instead of a tie game, Brian Rolston made it 3-1 at 13:06.  It turned out to be the game winner, despite Lubomir Visnovsky bringing Anaheim back within one at 17:31. 

"The whole thing is tough to swallow," said Ryan Getzlaf.  "We've worked really hard the last three months. We just had such a big hole to come out of. I guess we'll see what happens Wednesday."

On Wednesday, the math may have already played out before the Ducks tackle San Jose for the final time this season. 

Given how the game started between the Ducks and Blues, you would never have guessed that Anaheim would be the team who came out on top.  Yet they got their act together and pulled off 4-3 defeat of St. Louis, the best team in the NHL.  How big a deal is that?  It was the first defeat of the Blues who were 37-0-1 when scoring three or more goals in a game..  

Too bad the Ducks are not going to the playoffs.  They could have made things interesting.

The Blues got on the board with a goal from Jaden Schwartz at 7:00 of the first period. 

Anaheim tied up the game on the power play with a goal from Cam Fowler at 10:28, but a turnover cost the Ducks just a couple minutes later.  David Backes happily converted at 12:22, rifling his shot past Jonas Hiller, who was back in goal after enjoying a rare night off on Monday evening.

In the second period, Nick Bonino tied up the game once more at 6:03.  After a power play had just concluded, the Ducks remained in the Blues zone and finished up what they could not do with the extra man. 

The Blues did not get to the top of the NHL without skill and determination and they regained the lead for the third time with a goal from David Perron at 4:47 of the third period.   Perron took advantage of rebound and scored while sprawling on his belly.

The Ducks refused to give in. 

Adding to the core of youth getting on the scoresheet, Devante Smith-Pelly notched his sixth of the year at 7:50.   Smith-Pelly seemed very comfortable playing on the top line with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.  Tipping in Getzlaf's pass behind Jaroslav Halak gave Anaheim just a little more spark.

"[Getzlaf] made an unbelievable play, breaking up a play in our zone," said Smith-Pelly. "He then went down and made a nice move on the forward there. All I have to do is really put my stick on the ice and he’s going to find me."

Seeing as the young folks had done their job, the old folks decided it was time to do theirs.  The reconfigured second line of Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Jason Blake (a mere 116 combined years young) took the lead for the first time in the game.  Blake scored off a Blues defenseman at 14:06.  Selanne was in the vicinity, but the puck did not hit him.

It was the time since December 18 that Halak had allowed four goals in a game.

"It's uncharacteristic of us to blow three one-goal leads, let alone just one one-goal lead," said Carlo Colaiacovo of his team's performance. "We've been really good at that all year. A couple of mental mistakes and mental breakdowns cost us tonight."

The Ducks held on to their only lead for the rest of the game to earn two more points in the standings.

"They are the best team in the league for a reason," said Blake. "They compete and have been great all year.  We’re just trying to win hockey games. It doesn’t matter the situation we are in. It was a good effort tonight. It was a slow start in the first. I thought after that we did a great job."

The Ducks will have to do no less of a great job on Sunday when the Boston Bruins, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, come to town.

 

All that is left of the Ducks season is the ability to be a spoiler.  Anaheim certainly played that role well in a 5-3 defeat of San Jose, leaving Sharks fans even less enamored of their Southern California division rivals.  Having won all three games in San Jose, the Ducks wish they could have played there more often this year.

The Ducks had played the previous day, giving up a 1-0 lead to Nashville in the third period to lose 3-1.  Clearly the Ducks wanted to rectify their errors.

They also finally decided to give Jonas Hiller a day off.  After starting 32 games in a row, Hiller got to sit on the bench for the first time since January 10.  Jeff Deslauriers actually had something to do other than stand in net during practice.

Deslauriers, getting only his second start of the season, performed admirably.  He stopped 27 of 30 shots and got a well deserved win.

"J.D. did what he needed to do tonight," said captain Ryan Getzlaf. "He made some stops at some key times and got a little active in the net. It was nice to see. He works in practice like no other. He's taken a lot of heat the last little while for shots in practice, but we were proud of him tonight."

The game went back and forth in the begining.  Martin Havlat scored the first goal for the Sharks on the power play at 6:24 of the first period.   The Ducks responded with a goal from Bobby Ryan at 7:15 to tie things up. 

San Jose retook the lead at 9:20 with a goal from Ryan Clowe, but that was the last lead they would have.

"It was frustrating," said Clowe. "It was just a lack of intensity. It looked like we came out pretty good and then it was just disappointing to have the opportunity we had tonight to take a lead in our division and move into third place. That's a great opportunity. You just shake your head a little bit and wonder what happened."

What happened was the Ducks offense.

Francois Beauchemin chipped in his eighth of the year at 17:52 on the power play.  The Ducks took off after that.

Goals in the second period by Corey Perry, just :56 seconds in, and defenseman Nate Guenin with his second of the year at 9:59.  After Guenin's tally, that was it for Antti Niemi in net.  Thomas Greiss finished off the rest of the way, but being down 4-2, the Sharks could not rebound.

Joe Pavelski brought the Sharks back within a goal at 17:29, but Anaheim stopped any momentum gained by putting the puck behind Greiss just :33 seconds later. 

While there was no more scoring in the final period, the damage had already been done.   The Ducks could head back home happy little campers.  At least until they looked at the standings and reminded themselves that it will only take a few more points in either direction to officially mathematically eliminate them from playoff contention.   '

For now, playing for pride is sufficient.  Let us hope they can take that effort into Wednesday night's game at home against the St. Louis Blues, who lead the entire NHL in points and know for a fact, they are playing at least a couple more weeks in April than the Ducks.

IN OTHER NOTES:  Jason Blake and Niklas Hagman were both healthy scratches for Anaheim.  Toni Lydman missed his second game with an upper body injury as yet to be identified.  Nick Bonino, who was drafted by the Sharks but never played a game for them, had three assists in the Ducks victory. 

Try as they might, the Ducks cannot defeat the Nashville Predators to save their lives.  Saving their season was already out of the question, but how about showing a little pride?

Nashville has won six games in a row against Anaheim.  The latest effort was a 3-1 come from behind win in the second of back to back games.   Ouch.

To their credit, the Ducks came out much better than they did on Friday night against the Kings.  Devante Smith-Pelly's shorthanded goal at 7:32 of the first period was a beauty and certainly set a positive tone. 

The Ducks held on to that 1-0 lead for the first two periods, although they could not get anything else past Anders Lindback.  Lindback was relieving Pekke Rinne of duty, as the Predators played the night before in a losing effort against the Kings.

In the third period, the Ducks either became complacent, or the Predators woke up.  Or a little of both. 

Regardless, Patrik Hornqvist started Nashville's comeback with a goal at 1:19.  It was a bad change by the Ducks and the Predators pounced.  It gave them life.

"They are really good and never stop pushing," said Smith-Pelly. "They are great in their own zone and capitalize on your mistakes. I guess that is what they did tonight."

Mike Fisher tipped in Ryan Suter's shot at 10:27 to give Nashville their first lead.  Instead of rebounding, the Ducks spent the final minutes of the period in the penalty box. 

Pulling Jonas Hiller to at least make things even, the inevitable empty net goal sealed the deal for the Predators at 19:43. 

Teemu Selanne, who was disgusted after the last game's result, was livid after this one.  Smith-Pelly was clearly interfered with by Nashville and prevented from making a play to prevent the final goal.  Nothing was called.  Selanne let all the referees and linesmen know of his displeasure and his disagreement.  Fortunately he did not get an unsportsmanlike penalty for doing so.

"The effort was good," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "In the first two periods we were a pretty dominating team. It wasn’t for lack of opportunities, chances or effort. I think we had a tremendous effort tonight. We came up short."

They come up short in the standings as well.  Apparently the Ducks have run out of gas after an incredible January and February run that left them within four points of a playoff spot. 

"They're a team that's built for the playoffs," said Bobby Ryan, who had a hat trick of penalties in the game. "They play a full 60 minutes. They got a great back end. They got three lines that can hurt you and that top line with (Martin) Erat and Fisher and (Sergei) Kostitsyn moves the puck well. They're highly effective throughout the ice."

Too bad the same cannot be said of the Ducks.   Those four points have stretched back out to 12 points out.  With nine games to go, the Ducks can only earn 89 points, and with the way they have been playing lately, that isn't going to happen.  A couple more losses by the Ducks and a couple more wins by playoff contending teams and the Ducks can officially make their golf reservations.

So much potential, so little execution. 

IN OTHER NOTES:  Toni Lydman sat out the game with an upper body injury.

In the final meeting between the Ducks and the Kings, you would have expected a lively game between the two teams.  It certainly was lively in the stands of the sellout plus crowd, who seemed evenly split between the opponents. 

It wasn't that the Ducks were lackluster, but rather that the Kings were determined to earn two points in the standings and were not going to allow anything to get in their way of that goal.

A 4-2 victory over Anaheim sealed the deal and left Ducks fans with an extra bitter taste in their mouth.  In the words of a Kings fan heading to their car "It's always a good day when we beat the Ducks!"  Ducks fans feel the same way about the Kings.  They just haven't been able to feel that way for the majority of this season, seeing as the Kings took five out of six games.

Getting behind 3-0 in the first period did nothing to help the Ducks cause. 

Alec Martinez put Los Angeles on the board just 2:40 into the game.  Jonas Hiller looked just a split second too slow to stop the shot that careened over his glove hand.

Anze Kopitar took note of the weakness and made it 2-0 at 9:33 by putting his shot over the glove hand as well.   To add insult to injury, Justin Williams extended the lead with just :08 seconds left in the period by crashing the net and getting a goal. 

The Ducks?  Didn't get a whole lot of quality chances in the first period.

"They outplayed us really badly and they came away with the 3-0 lead," said coach Bruce Boudreau.  "It’s hard to come back after that against a good team, especially a good defensive team like that."

Anaheim did put up a little bit of a fight.

Cam Fowler got his first goal since December while on the power play.  His shot from the blue line at 3:41 went through traffic and trickled through Jonathan Quick's legs.   Even if the puck had not gone in, Corey Perry, who was back in the line up after missing two games with a shoulder injury, was there to finish it off. 

Hiller had to keep the Ducks in the game by stopping 19 shots in the middle period alone and 39 overall.  Quick had a lot quieter work load with half the shots.

Luca Sbisa, also back in the line up after missing two games with back spasms, continued the defense's offense with a quirky goal at 3:53 of the third period.  The puck hit Quick's chest protector and bounced over his head and into the net.  Not much you can do to stop that one. 

Unable to put anything else past Quick, the Ducks pulled Hiller for the extra attacker.  At least they kep trying to pull the goalie.  The Kings felt very comfortable in the Ducks zone and did not vacate for long. 

An empty net goal by Mike Richards at 19:49 sealed the deal for the Kings.  Teemu Selanne, who assisted on both Ducks goals, looked both mad and disgusted at the same time.   Ducks fans could certainly sympathize.

"We played hard at the end and in the second half of the game, but we weren’t ready to play this hockey game," said Ryan Getzlaf. "It starts in the first period and we weren’t ready to start on time."

That could sum up the whole season - just not ready to go and give it their all for 60 minutes.  

IN OTHER NOTES:  Goaltender John Gibson was signed to a three year entry level contract on Thursday.  Gibson, 18, was drafted by the Ducks last June and shows great promise.

The Ducks and the Red Wings have met many times, in the regular and post season.  While there have been plenty of memorable moments in games between these two teams, there were a couple new ones to add to the list.

A 4-0 shutout was particularly notable because the Ducks have never shut out Detroit at home.  They have done it once before, in Detroit.  That was in 1997. 

Even sweeter than a rare shutout against the Red Wings was the game winning goal coming from Teemu Selanne.  Goal #660 of his career was also his 1,400th career point.  After passing fellow Finnish countryman Jari Kurri in points on Monday, Selanne added one more with Kurri present to witness. 
 
At 8:52 of the second period, Selanne broke the scoreless tie by crashing the net and putting in Cam Fowler's rebound behind Joey MacDonald. 
 
Anaheim continued their offense in the middle period with a goal from Kyle Palmieri at 15:49 and Bobby Ryan at 18:55.

Palmieri, who had been recalled from Syracuse in light of Corey Perry's shoulder injury, was inserted on the top line in Perry's place.  He thrived there and made the most of his opportunity.  His second goal of the game at 1:22 of the third period just put the icing on the Ducks cake.

"It was an awesome night for me, and I think the whole team played well," said 21 year old Palmieri.  "My linemates are great players and they played great tonight. Guys like that are going to open up space for you. I think it's just one of those things where I got a couple of lucky breaks and the puck was bouncing right on my stick. I was lucky enough to score two tonight, but confidence-wise, it definitely feels good. Hopefully going forward, I can keep making an impact on this team."

Selanne, who is old enough to be Palmieri's father, was also impressed with the youngster's performance.

"Kyle is a great skater, and he's got an unbelievable shot," Selanne said. "He doesn't really have any weaknesses. So the next step for the young guy is the confidence.  He has all the tools and I'm expecting he's going to be really, really good in this League. That was fun to watch when the young guys come in and have success."

Jonas Hiller earned his 15th career shutout.  Despite being injury laden and playing the second of back to back games, the Red Wings are always dangerous.  Hiller had to make several amazing saves to keep everything out of his net.

"He made three unbelievable saves tonight or the game could have been tighter and gone differently," was Detroit coach Mike Babcock's assessment of Hiller.

The path from here does not get any easier for the Ducks, who truly have to remain undefeated for the remainder of the season.  Even if they remain undefeated, the chances of making up 9 points in the standings to earn the 8th and final playoff spot seems miniscule to nonexistent. 

Anaheim will meet up with the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, a team they are chasing in the standings.  Another game destined to be lively and memorable, as it should be with all rivalries.

Playing without an injured Corey Perry (right shoulder) and Luca Sbisa (back spasms), the Ducks still held their own against a feisty Colorado Avalanche team.  Their efforts earned them a point, but Colorado took the extra point by defeating the Ducks 3-2 in overtime.

The Ducks got behind the eight ball once again by having the opposing team score first.  Jamie McGinn sniped his shot behind Jonas Hiller at 10:48 of the first period.  McGinn, acquired at the trade deadline from San Jose, has five goals in as many games. 

In the middle frame, it was a goaltending showcase.  Semyon Varlamov continued to make great saves at his end.  Hiller, starting in his 29th straight game, was equally impressive.

Finally, with only 1.5 seconds left in the period, Francois Beauchemin put a puck behind Varlamov and tied up the game.  The Ducks needed that boost to head into the third period.

The Avalanche took back the lead when Kevin Porter tipped in Jan Hejda's shot at 13:13.  With Varlamov's play, it did not look good for Anaheim to get another shot past him.

Finally granted their first power play of the night late in the period, the Ducks took advantage.
 
Teemu Selanne scored at 16:08, moving him officially past Jari Kurri on the all time points list at 1,399.

"I couldn't be more proud that Teemu is the all-time top NHL scorer from Finland," Kurri said in a statement. "Congratulations to a great player, a great friend and an even better person."

Selanne also tied Luc Robitaille for 4th place for power play goal with 247.

"Obviously it's a big honor," Selanne said after the game.  "That doesn't really make me much happier right now. The win was really the only goal we had. We couldn't do it.

The Ducks held on to reach overtime, but they could not win because of Gabriel Landeskog.  The 19 year old rookie is making a strong case for the Calder trophy this season.  Despite having the flu, Landeskog still sucked it up to play in the game.  His game winner at 1:52 of the extra session sealed things for the Avalanche, who are fighting for a final spot in the playoffs.

"That's a huge point for our team right now," said Landeskog.  "We need all the points we can get.  It was one of those games where I didn't know if I was going to be able to contribute out there. I kind of hung in there.  I was struggling most of the game, but those are the kind of games where you have to take it one shift at a time, take short shifts and kind of let my teammates do the job. To get an opportunity in OT, I just wanted to get it on net for it to go in."

Taking advantage of a Ducks turnover certainly did not hurt.

So now the Ducks head home to face an injury laden Detroit Red Wings team in yet another "must win" for Anaheim. 

IN OTHER NOTES:  Saku Koivu played in his 1,000th game.  An impressive milestone for any player, this one was especially meaningful for Koivu, a cancer survivor who msed nearly an entire  season for treatment and recovery.  Koivu is only the fifth Finn to reach that goal.

"Obviously with the cancer, and not knowing what the future will bring and if I will ever play again, it's been 10 years and I'm still around," Koivu said before the game.  "So it's a great accomplishment and I'm very proud of that. I'm going to enjoy it tonight."

A win might have made it even more enjoyable.

The Ducks were spectacular from the beginning of January until the end of February.  Once the trade deadline passed, they are having difficulties adding to the win column.  As a result, they keep sleeping in the standings and the clock (perhaps a bomb?) just keeps ticking louder and louder to the inevitable.

The most recent loss, a 2-0 shutout by the Dallas Stars, really hurt.  Literally.  Corey Perry was boarded by Stephane Robidas in the middle of the second period.  Robidas received a minor penalty, but Perry was very shaken up and in pain, having hit his shoulder hard. 

Perry stayed on the bench for a while, then went to the locker room.  He came back on in the third period, but was only able to take a couple shifts and then left for good.

Reports after the game were that xrays on the shoulder came back negative and he was listed as day to day.

"If the [Perry] penalty wasn’t a five-minute penalty, I don’t know what is," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "He’s in the most vulnerable position. Head first going into the boards and he’s getting a shove. Whether it’s a little shove or a big shove, it’s a shove of a defenseless person into the boards. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that. And you put your best player out in a game we had to win. Any hit that’s into the boards for a defenseless person … isn’t that one of the criteria."

Robidas faced no additional discipline from the NHL, but the Ducks will likely be without Perry for at least one game, in Colorado on Monday night.  Perry has played 272 games straight.  The last time he was out of the line up was when his thigh was sliced by Jose Theodore's skate blade in March 2008 in a fluke accident. 

Perry was also hit hard in the St. Louis game and appeared to have hurt his shoulder then.   That certainly did not help things.

Not only will the Ducks have to play without their best player on the ice, they will also have to figure out their power play, which is dismal.  Missing Perry for half the game on Saturday night did not help the Ducks any in that regard.  Missing him for all of a game could be worse.

Brendan Morrow, who had missed 18 games, returned to the Stars line up and scored the game winning goal.  His power play tally at 2:37 of the second period was all that Dallas needed to defeat Anaheim.  They did play the rest of the game, though, just in case something different might happen.  It did not.

"Those four-footers with an empty cage are pretty easy to hit sometimes," Morrow said. "Jamie Benn made a great play to hit me backdoor with an empty net."

Jonas Hiller did keep the Ducks in the game and the only other tally for Dallas was an empty net goal by Michael Ryder at 19:14 of the third period.  That sealed it for Dallas, who won five of six games this season against the Ducks.  Ouch.'

Kari Lehtonen stopped 21 shots for the shutout. 

Anaheim now heads to Colorado.  They will be without Perry's services, but have recalled Kyle Palmieri from Syracuse.  Palmieri joins Ryan O'Marra, who was recalled a few days prior due to a knee injury to Nick Bonino.

Looking at the standings and the numbers, the Ducks cannot afford a third loss in a row. 

The party is officially over for the Anaheim Ducks.  While not mathematically eliminated, a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues means it is only a matter of time before the numbers do add up.

Losses to Los Angeles, Buffalo and Colorado last week made the road to the post season even more difficult.  Victories over Calgary and Edmonton helped delay the inevitable, but the latest defeat means that the Ducks have to win virtually every single game for the remainder of the season.  That would be 14 in a row to end the season.  Not happening. 

The Ducks got on the board first with a goal from Corey Perry at 4:18 of the second period.  It was Perry's 34th goal of the season.  Getting anything past Jaroslav Halak was an accomplishment.  Halak made certain nothing else went into the net.

The Blues would not be kept off the board for long.  Give them a power play or two, and that would be all they needed.  David Backes tied up the game at 11:38 with the man advantage.  Jonas Hiller kept the game tied 1-1 going into the third period, but he could not stop the Blues, who are on a hot streak right now.

Patrik Berglund's goal at 4:47 gave St. Louis their first lead of the game.  Another power play goal from Backes at 6:48 sealed the deal for the Blues. 

A late power play opportunity for the Ducks saw them pulling Hiller for a 6 on 4 advantage.  While nothing went in the empty net for the Blues, nothing went in the other end either and the Ducks saw their fourth loss in six games.

Not the way they wanted to start a three game road trip.

The Blues are now officially in first place overall in the NHL.   They switched their coach early on in the season and have since been spectacular.  Credit has to go to Ken Hitchcock for getting the Blues on the same page and having success.

What might have happened if the Ducks had switched out their coach earlier on?  Then again, Bruce Boudreau was not available earlier in the season.

So for now, the Ducks are still mired in 12th place in the Western Conference.  They are seven points out of 8th place and every single team they are chasing, with the exception of Colorado, have at least one game in hand over the Ducks. 

The Ducks only have a possible 96 points (assuming winning the rest of the way) and the teams ahead of them have four to twelve more points possible.  What can the Ducks look forward to?  Teemu Selanne having a fabulous rest of the season.  He is already tied with his boyhood ideol Jari Kurri for 19th overall at 1,398 points. 

Anaheim won't stop fighting until the math truly does play out and they are eliminated.   But truly, Selanne deserves better than this for what is likely his final season.

Losing two in a row in regulation, the Ducks had to win against Calgary.  Win in regulation?  Even more important.
 
Anaheim  knew they needed both points and could not afford to give up a point to the Flames, who they are chasing in the standings.  They accomplished their goal, but it was close.

Calgary, who had played the night before in Phoenix, recalled Leland Irving from their minor league team.  Leland who?  The 23 year old rookie netminder started in just his sixth NHL game instead of veteran Miikka Kiprusoff.  Irving is much easier to spell, but he was not much easier to get a goal past.  He made 35 saves, keeping the Flames in it.

The Ducks did not start off their "must win" game very well.  They took two penalties early on, including too many men on the ice.  Bad plan.

Calgary converted.  Curtis Glencross, who played two games for the Ducks, extended his goal scoring streak to three games by trickling the puck past Jonas Hiller at 3:06.  1-0 Flames and once again the Ducks gave up the first goal.

Anaheim tied up the game a few minutes later.  Teemu Selanne patiently waited for just the right moment to pass to Bobby Ryan.  Ryan had no difficulties beating Irving at 5:58. 

After a goal from each side, it was time for a couple of fights.  Luca Sbisa squared off with Tom Kostopoulos and three minutes later, it was a rematch between Francois Beauchemin and Jarome Iginla.  Beauchemin and Iginla faced each other during the 2006 playoffs, where Beauchemin surprised Iginla by being a lefty.  Iginla knew what he was getting into this time and it was a decent fight.

In the second period, Corey Perry broke the tie at 7:41.  Irving was focused on Ryan Getzlaf and could not move in time when Getzlaf passed instead of shooting.  It was a good decision and Perry made it look easy. 

The Flames, despite being outshot, were not about to give up.  Alex Tanguay tied up the game once more at 4:27 of the third period and it remained that way until late.

Sure, getting a point out of the game would be nice, but getting two in regulation would be even better.  With less than a minute left, the Ducks managed to secure the win and continue Calgary's losing streak at the Honda Center.  (They have last won in Anaheim on January 19, 2004.  Sort of like how the Ducks feel every time they visit Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.)

Ryan Getzlaf, who had not scored in 17 games, finally put one in the net.  With roles reversed, Perry got the puck to Getzlaf who actually shot it.  Even better - it went in the net behind Irving.  3-2 Ducks with only :46 seconds remaining in the game.

Even with Irving having vacated the net, the Flames were unable to get another one past Hiller.

"It was an emotional one," Getzlaf said. "That's a big win for our group. We've got half the battle won this weekend. Tonight's an emotional one and we've got to enjoy it right now and get ready for the next one."

How long could they enjoy it?

"About eight more minutes," said Getzlaf. 

The next one comes quickly.  They head up the freeway to play the Los Angeles Kings in another must win game that cannot afford to go to overtime.