National Hockey League
Anaheim 3, Calgary 1
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 29, 2016
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
Referees: Dean Morton, Dan O'Halloran
Linesmen: David Brisebois, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance: 19289

CALGARY, Alberta -- Jakob Silfverberg's split-second decision led to his third game-winning goal of the season as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 on Thursday.

Playing in his 300th NHL game, Silfverberg fired a shot into the top corner, past goalie Chad Johnson's blocker, at 5:37 of the third period to put the Ducks up 2-1 over the Flames.

"I can't say I looked too much at the net," said Silfverberg, who now shares the team lead in game-winning goals with Rickard Rakell and Cam Fowler. "I just tried to fire it quick and it happened to find a pretty good spot."

Johnson gave Silfverberg credit for beating him with a perfect shot.

"He put it in a good spot," said Johnson. "He didn't have much room. He beat me in a little pocket there. He made a quick shot. At that time of the game, I want to be able to make that save."

Rakell then added an insurance marker at 8:30 of the final frame to help the Ducks avenge an 8-3 loss they suffered at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Dec. 4.

"We talked about it," said Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle. "We talked about it for sure. If you're an athlete and you're involved in professional sports and competitive sports, you're going to use all those things as motivation. That again is what makes up competitive people. We didn't like what happened in here last time. We had to make some amends."

Antoine Vermette had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (18-12-7), while Ryan Kesler chipped in with two assists and goalie John Gibson made 31 saves.

Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames (19-17-2), who had won two games in a row and three of their previous four.

Johnson, who finished with 22 saves, lost his fourth straight start after reeling off six wins in a row from Nov. 30 to Dec. 10.

After a slow start by both teams, Gibson stood his ground to stop a slap shot by Michael Frolik just past the eight-minute mark of the first period. Gibson also made a nice save to deny a scoring chance by Sean Monahan from the slot.

"I thought we got better as the game went along," said Gibson. "They jumped on us a little bit in the first period but once we weathered that storm we got our power play going and settled down from there and locked it down."

Backlund scored the lone goal of the first at 11:09 when he took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and sped into the Anaheim zone past defenseman Kevin Bieksa and center Ryan Getzlaf before tucking a shot through Gibson's five-hole.

The Ducks drew even with a power-play goal at 6:16 of the second by Vermette, who tapped a nice feed from Corey Perry past Johnson. After redirecting Kevin Bieksa's point shot on net, Perry worked hard to find the rebound in the crease and backhanded a pass through his legs to Vermette at the side of the net.

The Flames had a great chance to retake the lead late in the second during another Anaheim power play when Alex Chiasson intercepted a pass at his own blue line and broke into the Anaheim zone on a two-on-zero with Sam Bennett. Chiasson and Bennett passed the puck back and forth before Bennett finally took a shot that hit the outside of the net.

"It's easy to say now, but I think that's the play is a little give-and-go, but I got jammed," said Bennett. "At the end of the day I've got to put that in."

After Silfverberg gave the Ducks the lead in the third, Rakell added an insurance marker when he tapped a loose puck just outside the crease past Johnson.

NOTES: Due to illness, D Sami Vatanen didn't travel to Calgary with the Ducks and missed his second straight game. ... The Ducks recalled D Brandon Montour from the AHL's San Diego Gulls on Tuesday. Montour suited up for his first NHL game on Thursday on the one-year anniversary of D Shea Theodore's NHL debut, also in Calgary on Dec. 29, 2015. Theodore was Anaheim's lone healthy scratch. The Ducks assigned RW Stefan Noesen to San Diego on Thursday. Flames RW Troy Brouwer missed his second straight game as a result of a broken finger he suffered during a 4-1 win at home over the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 23. Brouwer underwent surgery on his finger earlier this week and will be out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis. Flames D Dougie Hamilton (illness) missed his first game of the season, while his older brother C Freddie Hamilton was a healthy scratch.
Top Game Performances
 
Anaheim   Calgary
Antoine Vermette 2 Points Mikael Backlund 1
Antoine Vermette 1 Goals Mikael Backlund 1
Ryan Kesler 2 Assists Michael Frolik 1
Antoine Vermette 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
John Gibson .969 Save Percentage Chad Johnson .880
John Gibson 31 Saves Chad Johnson 22
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Anaheim 25 3 2-6 4-4 10 32
Calgary 32 1 0-4 4-6 14 30
Upcoming Games
  • Calgary will play their next game at home against Arizona. The Flames have a W/L % of .526 after a win and .474 after a loss.
  • Anaheim will play their next game on the road against Vancouver. The Ducks have a W/L % of .389 after a win and .579 after a loss.