*Photo from the Orange County Register*
The struggles of some top prospects in the Anaheim Ducks system have been noted over the last few seasons. Monday night, we were reminded of why they are top prospects. Rickard Rakell scored, Jamie Drysdale scored the winner, and the Ducks defeated the Calgary Flames 3-2 in overtime on Monday night.
After a very forgettable season earlier this year, The Ducks have shown their young talent so far, with a 2-1-0 record to start the season. It's a very small sample size, it's just 3 games. But it's an encouraging 3 games, something that the Ducks are hoping they can build upon as they open a 4 game road trip.
Drysdale said of his OT winner that "I just tried to work my way up the ice as fast as I could, get into a shooting position. From there, Troy kind of did all the work, made a great fake, a great curl and drag and slipped it through the guy right on my tape backdoor. It was a heck of a play by him. He deserves a lot of credit for that."
Blake Coleman got the Flames on the board in his season debut, scoring goal number one 7:43 into the first period, giving the Flames a 1-0 lead to kick things off. At the 15:56 marker, Cam Fowler scored on the power play, with his first goal of the season getting the Ducks on the board and tying the game 1-1. In the second, Elias Lindholm scored 3:52 into the period, giving the Flames a 2-1 lead on his second goal of the season.
In the 3rd period, Rakell tied the game back up, with his second goal of the season at 12:55 of the 3rd making it a 2-2 tie. That set the stage for the young Drysdale, taking the feed from Troy Terry on a 2 on 1 in OT and converting, giving the Ducks a 3-2 win and kicking off the road trip the right way.
Rakell said of the win that "We were lucky that it was a one-goal game for such a long time, and honestly when we got that tying goal, it gave the whole group some energy. I think we had some good chances in the last period there that also gave us some confidence going into overtime. I thought we did a good job having the puck possession for most of the overtime, and then obviously 'Terrs' and 'Drys' made a great play on that winning goal."
John Gibson was the starting goalie for the Ducks, returning from an injury that forced him to miss their last game against the Minnesota Wild. Gibson didn't miss a beat, turning in a stellar performance, saving 41 of 43 shots for a .953 save percentage, moving to 2-0-0 this season. The win also gave Gibson career win number 150.
On Calgary's side, Jacob Markstrom got the loss in net, saving 24 of 27 shots the Ducks threw at him, posting a save percentage of .889, taking his season save percentage to .881 in two games, with Markstrom sitting at a 0-1-1 record to start the season.
Johnny Gaudreau was upset about the loss in the locker room, saying that "We've just got to get in front of the goalie and bare down on our chances. We could've had three, four, five goals tonight if we find the net there. We've got to put the puck in the net."
The Flames get back into action when they face the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, with Markstrom expected to make the start once again. The Ducks are right back in action on Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, with backup Anthony Stolarz expected to start.
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