As they say, in life, all good things must come to an end. The Anaheim Ducks witnessed one of those "good things" finally reach the end of its shelf life last night when they fell to the Calgary Flames 2-0 at home. Before Monday night's victory, the Flames had lost 29 straight games to the Ducks in Anaheim.
In a game with very little offensive production, Calgary must credit their streak-ending win to the spectacular goaltending of Mike Smith. The first star of the game stopped all 43 shots that came his way and truly stepped up his game when Anaheim put the peddle to the metal in an attempt to get back into the contest.
The game remained scoreless for both sides until late in the second when Sean Monahan scored his first goal of the season 16:27 into the period. Mikael Backlund would then increase Calgary's lead to 2-0 in the third period with his second goal of the season. Two goals would be all the Flames would need to walk out of Anaheim victorious.
Although Anaheim suffered the shutout loss, it wasn't due to a lack of effort. The Ducks outshot the Flames 43-29 and never let Calgary produce more than ten shots in a period. Sometimes, you just run into a hot goaltender and that was the case last night.
The Ducks did not do themselves any favors, however, squandering every opportunity on the powerplay. Anaheim experienced a man-advantage five times but could not capitalize even once. Normally, poor production on special teams, especially when there are plenty of opportunities, translates into a loss.
Anaheim is now 1-1-1 in their first three games of the season. The team will look to get things back on track when they take on the New York Islanders Wednesday night at home.