Andrew Mangiapane scored the go-ahead goal with 3:29 left and the Calgary Flames beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
The rookie left wing tried to pass the puck across to Garnet Hathaway on a 2-on-1. Instead it hit Ducks defenseman Jaycob Megna and came right back to Mangiapane, who ripped a shot over the shoulder of goalie Ryan Miller.
TJ Brodie also scored for Calgary (38-16-7), which moved three points ahead of San Jose atop the Pacific Division. The Flames lead the Western Conference standings as well.
Derek Grant scored for Anaheim (24-28-9), which dropped to 1-1-0 on a four-game road trip. The Ducks had won three of their first four under interim coach Bob Murray. Miller stopped 26 shots but fell to 6-3-1. Making his fifth consecutive start for the first time this season, Mike Smith had 25 saves to improve to 18-11-2.
The only two goals in a lackluster opening 40 minutes came five minutes apart early in the second period. At 1:22, Brodie's point shot deflected off Megna and slipped past Miller. Smith was the culprit on the tying goal. He left his net to attempt to play a puck that was coming around the end boards. Instead, Carter Rowney arrived at the same time and flicked the puck into the slot, where Grant fired a one-timer into the open net.
Visibly upset about the blunder, Smith slammed his stick on the ice. For the Flames, the offensive struggles continued for three of their top players. In the last 11 games, Johnny Gaudreau (1-5-6), Sean Monahan (2-4-6) and Matthew Tkachuk (0-2-2) have all seen their points dry up. Hoping they could get each other going, Calgary coach Bill Peters moved Tkachuk onto the Gaudreau-Monahan line in the last game and started Friday night that way as well. But before the first period ended, Elias Lindholm was back in his usual spot on the top line and Tkachuk was back with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik. Both lines were held off the scoresheet.
Making things that much more difficult for a Ducks offense that ranks last in the NHL was the late scratch of leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf (upper body). Miller made the best stop of the game in the first period when he dove across the net to rob Austin Czarnik on a backhand. Czarnik had a three-game goal streak snapped. NOTES: Calgary rookie defenseman Oliver Kylington (lower body) did not play. ... A trio of Flames reached career game milestones: Mikael Backlund (600), Sam Bennett (300) and Noah Hanifin (300). ... The Flames improved to 28-4-1 when they score first.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
UP NEXT
Ducks: Play in Edmonton on Saturday night.
Flames: Play at Ottawa on Sunday.
