Ducks rally to force overtime, then lose to Flames on power-play goal

DUCKS

The Flames’ Connor Zary struggles on the ice in front of Ducks goaltender John Gibson after taking a hit by Anaheim’s Drew Helleson during the first period of Tuesday night’s game at Honda Center. Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images

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By Andrew Knoll

Correspondent

ANAHEIM — Even without Troy Terry, the Ducks nearly pulled off another comeback Tuesday night. They forced overtime but fell just short, losing 3-2 to the Calgary Flames at Honda Center.

Alex Killorn and Mason McTavish had a goal apiece. John Gibson came up with 30 of 33 shots. The Ducks’ leading scorer, Terry, missed the match as he and his wife Dani were to welcome their second child. The Ducks have earned nine of their past 12 possible points.

MacKenzie Weegar, who turned 31 on Tuesday, scored a goal and assisted on another by Nazem Kadri before Jonathan Huberdeau tallied in overtime to win it for Calgary. Former Tustin resident Dustin Wolf made 26 saves.

A wild end-to-end sequence in overtime saw the Flames’ Martin Pospisil’s clutch backcheck send Calgary the other way for a frantic fire drill in the Ducks’ zone. The Flames’ pressure led to an interference penalty by Pavel Mintyukov, allowing Calgary to cash in four-on-three.

After an initial spectacular save by Gibson, a bad bounce off the end boards from Jacob Trouba’s clearing attempt served up a tap-in goal at the side of the net for Huberdeau at the 2:05 mark of overtime.

The Ducks’ Leo Carlsson began the third period with a partial breakaway that was denied by Wolf’s blocker. Wolf, a former junior King, also made a big stop on McTavish’s deflection in the second period.

The Ducks broke through on the power play, however, with their fifth goal in 48 chances proving timely, tying the game 7:36 into the third period. McTavish set up in the slot to redirect a high shot from Cutter Gauthier for McTavish’s sixth goal of the season and his second on the power play.

With just under eight minutes to play, Jackson LaCombe barreled into Blake Coleman at the back post, selling out to knock him off a rebound that would have been a near-certain goal.

The second period saw the teams exchange goals at the 8:34 and 12:44 marks after Drew Helleson’s major penalty and game misconduct for kneeing Connor Zary, who did not return to the ice. Helleson was assessed a five-minute penalty and the response from Calgary’s Jakob Pelletier earned him two minutes in the box.