Tyler Toffoli had three assists, Calgary scored twice on the power play and the Flames rebounded from a six-goal loss last night with a 5-1 win over the Ducks on Tuesday.
Toffoli has nine points in the last four games, including six assists.
Nick Ritchie, Troy Stecher, Rasmus Andersson, Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane scored the goals for Calgary. Mikael Backlund had a pair of assists and Dan Vladar stopped 19 shots for the Flames, who rebounded from an 8-2 loss Monday night in Los Angeles.
“We just wanted to put that game behind us. And there’s no better way to put it behind you than to just go out there and play right away,” said Mangiapane, who scored on a breakaway with less than five minutes remaining for his 12th of the season. “I think the first period set the tone for us. We wanted to come out strong and tough and build on that.”
The victory kept Calgary four points behind Winnipeg for the final wild card in the Western Conference with 10 games remaining after the Jets beat Arizona 2-1.
“As a coach, it’s really simple: I just want every game to be meaningful,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said.
Frank Vatrano scored Anaheim’s only goal. John Gibson made 38 saves, facing 40+ shots for the 20th time this season.
“We knew they were going to be a little cranky after their game last night against LA, and other than a few starts in the second quarter, maybe for about six minutes in the second, we couldn’t sustain much. Every time we turned, they were in front of us,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.
Calgary has 12 man advantage goals over the past month, which is fifth in the NHL.
Andersson put Calgary up 3-0 less than three minutes into the third period on a pass from Toffoli. It was Andersson’s 11th goal and his third in the last six games.
The Flames took the lead 37 seconds into the game when Ritchie grabbed the rebound after Gibson saved an base bag on Noah Hanifin’s spot shot. Ritchie’s 12th of the season marked the sixth time Calgary had scored in the first minute.
Stecher snapped a 90-game goal drought at 16:50 of the first with a quick shot from the right-hand circle to the high side of the far post. Stecher, whose last goal was on Feb. 17, 2022, has three points (one goal, two assists) since he was acquired from Arizona at the trade deadline.
Anaheim got on the board five minutes later when Vatrano lifted an over-the-shoulder wrist strike from Vladar on the glove side. Vatrano’s 17th scored just the second goal in Anaheim’s last 15 power play chances.
Lindholm scored his 21st and gave Calgary a 4-1 lead 46 seconds into the third in a single period.
