Calgary Flames 2018/19 Season Chatter

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 81

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Rookies send Anaheim Ducks past playoff-bound Flames, 3-1

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After Ryan Miller wrapped up his 378th career victory and skated off to an ovation from the Honda Center crowd, the veteran goalie seemed hopeful about the future for himself and the Anaheim Ducks.

The Calgary Flames are just killing time until their bright future starts next week in the playoffs.

Rookies Sam Steel and Max Jones scored first-period goals and the Ducks continued their strong finish with a 3-1 victory over Calgary on Wednesday night.

The 38-year-old Miller made 25 saves in his first win since March 5, and he seemed hopeful it won't be his last. The winningest U.S.-born goalie in NHL history isn't certain to return as John Gibson's backup next year, but he was cautiously optimistic about his hockey future.

"It means a lot to end the season on a win and a positive note as a goaltender," Miller said. "I feel like I can play. We'll have to see what the future holds. Still unsure of a few facts. I feel I can still play. Just want it to be the right situation."

Captain Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Ducks, who responded to a 6-1 loss to first-place Calgary last week with their 10th win in 16 games overall.

"You want to win every night, but when a team beats you that bad, you definitely want to come back and have a better showing," Steel said.

Anaheim's streak of six straight playoff appearances will end next week thanks to its disastrous 5-21-4 midseason slump. But the Ducks will return in September with a wealth of young talent -- including two promising rookies who put Anaheim up 2-0 less than seven minutes in.

Steel scored for the first time since his hat trick March 26 in Vancouver, while Jones got his second NHL goal to end an 11-game scoring drought.

"You always want to contribute, and (coach Bob Murray) is giving us a chance to do that, so it's awesome," Steel said.

Derek Ryan scored and David Rittich stopped 29 shots for the Pacific Division champion Flames, who will start the postseason next week as the top seed in the Western Conference. With nothing to gain from a win, the Flames rested several healthy regulars, including 82-point scorer Sean Monahan and 78-point scorer Elias Lindholm.

"I didn't think we had a lot of jump or a lot of fire," Ryan said. "It's kind of tough to play in a game like this, but you still have to find a way to be professional. We had our chances, but (it was) just kind of a lackluster performance in my opinion."

Johnny Gaudreau got his 98th point with an assist on Ryan's first-period goal, extending his scoring streak to five games and getting close to his first 100-point season.

"It would be cool, obviously," Gaudreau said. "It's something that I try not to focus on too much, but I realize how close I am. That's not the reason why I'm playing, though, right now. I feel good. I like to be on the ice."

The Flames' three-game winning streak ended, and they lost at Honda Center for the 32nd time in their last 33 appearances. Calgary had lost 29 straight games in Orange County since 2006 before a win early last season.

The Flames have won their division for the first time since 2006, but they've won just one playoff series since 2004. The Ducks' run of five straight Pacific titles ended last season, and they're missing the playoffs this spring for only the third time since 2004.

[Brewin Flames]

Game # 82

 1  3

McDavid injures leg in Oilers' finale, X-rays negative

CALGARY, Alberta -- Connor McDavid gave the Edmonton Oilers a big scare in the team's final game of the season.

McDavid left Edmonton's 3-1 victory over Calgary on Saturday night after hurting his left leg. It appeared to be a serious injury, but the Oilers tweeted that X-rays were negative.

The next hurdle is an MRI, which the 22-year-old McDavid will have after traveling home with the team.

"You're going between anger and rage and your heart's broken for the guy," Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "So to get some good news right now, we can breathe for a few hours. MRI tells you everything, so we'll hopefully get through the MRI. But we're not out of the woods yet."

McDavid was helped off the ice by teammate Zack Kassian and a trainer -- putting no weight on his leg -- after crashing into the Flames' net early in the second period. He fell to the ice after being challenged by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and then slid hard into the net. Giordano was penalized for tripping.

"That's the best player in the game. I hope he's OK," said Giordano, the Flames' captain. "I'll reach out to him and hopefully get an answer, but it's a 1-on-1. I'm trying to dive to chip the puck off his stick. It happened so quick."

In hindsight, Giordano thought maybe he'd consider making a different play if he had the chance.

"Obviously, with the result being what it is, if I had to do it all over again, you'd almost want to see myself let him go and not injure him," he said. "But that's easy to say, after the fact."

McDavid held his left leg for several minutes before being helped off.

"He's our leader, he's our go-to guy and when you see him get hurt like that, it stings." Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl said. "You never want to see that happen to any player, especially him."

The crowd at sold-out Scotiabank Saddledome went quiet as McDavid was being attended to by trainers.

"I think that's the respect factor. They know what kind of player he is. He's an honest player," Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "Everybody around the league, all fans, respect that and understand what he means to our team. I'd expect the same from our fans if it happened to another guy on their team in our building and I think everybody was a little bit shocked and just hoping for the best for him."

McDavid was second in the league in scoring this season with a career-high 116 points, 12 behind Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov. McDavid's 41 goals equaled his career best.

"It's scary," Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. "He's the best player in the league. You see him go down like that, he's not a guy that ever goes down and stays down. He always hops back up. The guy means so much to not only this team but the organization, the city. I think everyone kind of held their breath there."

Draisaitl scored his 50th goal, and Nurse and Alex Chiasson also had goals for the Oilers, who have missed the postseason 12 times in 13 years.

Mark Jankowski scored for the Flames (50-25-7), who enter the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference.

Calgary will face Colorado in the first round. The Flames will have home-ice advantage for the first time since 2006.

"It's exciting," Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "You grind 82 games all year. We start the year in China. Here we are at this point and we've set ourselves up to be in the playoffs, and in the dance. Now we just have to go out and execute like we can."

Edmonton took a 2-1 lead on the power play after McDavid's injury when Chiasson poked a loose puck past Mike Smith after he had stopped Oscar Klefbom's point shot.

Nurse gave the Oilers some insurance 5:21 into the third, holding the puck patiently on a 2-on-1 before firing a shot past Smith high on the glove side.

Edmonton opened the scoring at 10:55 of the first period when Andrej Sekera pinched down the sideboards and got the puck to Draisaitl, who wristed a shot past Smith for his 50th.

Draisaitl became the first Oilers player to reach 50 goals since Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri each did it in the 1986-87 season.

Calgary drew even five minutes later when Jankowski deflected Hamonic's shot past Mikko Koskinen. Johnny Gaudreau had the second assist to get him to 99 points.

Gaudreau fell one point shy of becoming the first Flames player since Theoren Fleury in 1992-93 to record 100 points in a season.