Whatever happens the rest of this round two series between the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks, it is clear the Flames are for real and will be a force next season in the Western Conference.
In Game 4 Friday night, the Ducks had all they could handle from Calgary who are unafraid of the bigger and more experienced Ducks.
But the size and experience won for Anaheim Friday as they head home with a 3-1 series lead and can close out the second round and face the Chicago Blackhawks.
Matt Beleskey scored the game-winner in the third period for Anaheim.
“It’s playoffs. You never know what’s going to happen,” Beleskey said. “We love going home. We love playing in front of our home fans, but I don’t think that whole streak thing matters at this point. It’s Game 5 of the playoffs. We need a big effort.”
Anaheim went 2-for-4 on the power play while Calgary went scoreless in two opportunities.
“Our power play has been working hard all year,” Beleskey said. “We were creating momentum all game. [Silfverberg] just made that nice shot off the pads, and I was trying to get open in the slot and I just fired it home. We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to take care of business when they take a penalty like that at the end of the period. We’ve got to make them pay and we did.”
Game 4 was a tight match with both teams trading punches and the Flames holding a 2-1 lead late into the second period.
“I think that was probably our most complete game of the series, but a couple of lapses in a short span and they made us pay,” Flames forward Matt Stajan said. “It’s a bad bounce on that penalty at the end of the (second) period, but you’ve got to give them credit, they made us pay. We had a chance on a 5-on-3; last game we were able to score, and tonight we didn’t.”
Andrew Cogliano‘s goal with less than four minutes left in the middle frame got the Ducks back to even heading to the third.
“Just like them, we can come back,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I knew if we were down one or even (after the first period), we’d be OK.”
Cogliano’s goal came off a strip of Johnny Gaudreau who was heading up ice.
“We can talk about Johnny. We can talk about [Joe Colborne]’s penalty,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said. “We will learn. They’re two great kids. It’s sad because we paid on both of those situations, but there comes a point as a coaching staff that you don’t want those plays but you have to look at the individuals.
“They’re two unbelievable kids. They want to learn, and when we talk about experience, those situations will make them better. Tonight we’re paying a big price, but at the same time, those guys will be a big part of our team. They made us win way more games than they made us lose.”
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