Kesler Powers Ducks To 5th Straight Win, 5-2 Over Flames
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ryan Kesler had two goals and an assist, John Gibson made 22 saves and the Anaheim Ducks returned from a lengthy road trip with their fifth consecutive victory, 5-2 over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.
Captain Ryan Getzlaf extended his point streak to eight games with a third-period goal for the streaking Ducks, who have won 12 of 14 to improve to 19-4-2 since Christmas. Anaheim also trimmed Los Angeles' lead to two points atop the Pacific Division.
Patrick Maroon and Kevin Bieksa also had power-play goals as Anaheim beat the Flames at home for the 22nd consecutive time.
Captain Mark Giordano scored his career-best 15th goal and former Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller stopped 28 shots for the Flames, who have lost four of five.
Mikael Backlund added a last-minute goal for Calgary, which hasn't won a regular-season game at Honda Center since Jan. 19, 2004.
Kesler had his first three-point game of the season in the Ducks' dynamic return from a seven-game road trip during which they won five times and surged into second place in the Pacific.
Anaheim even scored five goals for the fourth consecutive game, continuing the offense's sharp turnaround after being the league's lowest-scoring team for most of the season. The Ducks chased Hiller while beating the Flames 6-4 in Calgary six days ago.
Maroon put the Ducks ahead late in the first period with his fourth goal of the season, pouncing after Calgary's Lance Bouma went down in pain while blocking a shot.
Kesler ended a 10-game goal drought with a wrist shot early in the second, but Giordano scored less than two minutes later, converting a slick pass from Johnny Gaudreau on a power play.
The Ducks quickly seized control in the third period. Getzlaf scored his 19th point in 13 games on a pass from David Perron just 16 seconds in, and Kesler made it 4-1 shortly afterward when he ripped the puck away from Deryk Engelland for an unassisted goal.
After Bieksa scored a goal in his second straight game, Backlund got his sixth goal in eight games with 45 seconds left.
NOTES: Flames D Kris Russell missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. ... Ducks F Andrew Cogliano played in his 680th consecutive game, passing Henrik Sedin for the sixth-longest streak in NHL history. Cogliano also has the second-longest streak to begin a career. ... Kesler has three multi-goal performances in his past 19 games after doing it just twice in his first 120 regular-season games for Anaheim.
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