RECAP: Ducks stifle Hiller, Flames 6-1 in Game 1
Corey Perry had two goals and two assists and the Anaheim Ducks routed the Calgary Flames 6-1 on Thursday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and three assists, and Matt Beleskey, Patrick Maroon and Emerson Etem also scored for the top-seeded Ducks, who had a seven-day layoff following their first-round sweep of Winnipeg.
Game 2 is Sunday night back at Honda Center, where the Flames haven't won since the 2006 playoffs and have lost 20 consecutive regular-season games since January 2004.
The six goals tied a Ducks playoff record. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves, losing his bid for his first NHL playoff shutout when Sam Bennett ended the scoring with 10:44 remaining.
Andersen helps set tone in #Ducks' Game 1 win over #Flames, writes @AbbeyMastracco. http://t.co/LcvpFGoBA7 #NHL pic.twitter.com/QCXKBeyHHa
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) May 1, 2015
Jonas Hiller, who was pulled by coach Bob Hartley in Games 2 and 6 of the Flames' first-round series against Vancouver, stopped 11 of 14 shots before he was yanked again with a 3-0 deficit after Perry carried the puck out from behind the net and jammed it past Hiller's stick at 2:13 of the second period.
The game was still scoreless when the sellout crowd of 17,174 unleashed derisive chants of "Hill-er! Hill-er!"
Hiller spent his first five NHL seasons with Anaheim and became a free agent last summer after the Ducks decided not to re-sign him. The Flames inked him to a two-year, $9 million contract, and he finished the regular season 26-19-4 with a 2.36 goals-against average.
Hiller appeared in 26 postseason games with Anaheim and started 22 of them, going 12-12 with a 2.29 GAA and three shutouts. But he was edged out on the depth chart by Andersen and John Gibson after the Ducks were bounced in the second round last year by eventual champion Los Angeles.
Just 2:05 after the opening faceoff, Andersen stopped center Josh Jooris on a breakaway after Jakob Silfverberg lost control of the puck inside the Calgary blue line and fell down.
Beleskey opened the scoring at 10:17 of the first period after overcoming two penalties that were called against Perry less than 4 minutes apart for cross-checking and high-sticking.
Defenseman Hampus Lindholm's wrist shot from about 5 feet inside the blue line went wide of the left post, but Kyle Palmieri played the carom off the end boards and quickly backhanded the puck to an unchecked Beleskey in front of a wide-open net with Hiller out of position.
Maroon, who plays on the Ducks' top line with Perry and Getzlaf, made it 2-0 less than 3 minutes later when he redirected Getzlaf's backhanded centering pass from the left corner with David Jones checking him in front of the net.
Etem converted a rebound of Beauchemin's slap shot from the right point at 10:11 of the second after Karri Ramo replaced Hiller in goal. Perry and Getzlaf ended the scoring with power-play goals 1:18 apart during the first 2:32 of the third period.
Anaheim was 3-1-1 against Calgary during the regular season and finished 12 points ahead of the Flames in the conference standings. The only other time these clubs met in the playoffs was in 2006, when the Ducks won their opening-round series in seven games.
NOTES: Perry and Getzlaf each tied a club playoff record with four points. ... The Flames played the final two periods without LW Micheal Ferland, and the final 36 minutes without leading goal scorer Jiri Hudler because of undisclosed injuries. ... The only players still with the Ducks from their `06 playoff showdown with Calgary are Getzlaf, Perry and Beauchemin - all of whom were rookies that season. ... Getzlaf played four seasons of junior hockey in Calgary with the Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. ... The Ducks and Flames each have won the Stanley Cup once - Anaheim in 2007 and Calgary in 1989. ... Brian Burke, who was the Ducks' general manager when they won the Cup, is now the Flames' president of hockey operations. ... The series winner will face the Chicago-Minnesota winner for a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals. ... The Flames dressed five rookies for the series opener - Bennett, Jooris, Ferland, LW Johnny Gaudreau and D Tyler Wotherspoon. The Ducks had just one rookie in uniform - C Richard Rakell.
