Ducks blank Flames for sixth win in a row

The Calgary Flames came into Sunday night's Game 2 against the Anaheim Ducks with what was presumably a simple plan - do almost the exact opposite of everything they did in Game 1.

In that matchup, a 6-1 shellacking by the Ducks, the series underdogs played like just that. But if they could counter that performance with one where they used their speed and smarts to challenge the Western Conference champs, it could be enough to earn them one victory in Southern California (which they haven't done since 2004) before the series moves to Calgary.

They started by changing their karma in net. After tapping goaltender Jonas Hiller in Game 1, the Flames went with Karri Ramo to start Game 2. Hiller, who was with Anaheim for six seasons before being allowed to walk in free agency, let in three goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Ramo in Game 1.

But despite the change, and Ramo's tremendous play, it wasn't enough to lift the Flames to victory. They fell 3-0 to the Ducks, giving Anaheim a 2-0 series lead.

"We knew they were going to come out hard," Ducks forward Corey Perry said. "(After Game 1), we knew they would give us their best, and it would be (a battle)."

From puck drop, Ramo, 28, proved he was up to the task of stopping the Ducks, stonewalling captain Ryan Getzlaf's slapper after a Flames giveaway at center ice put Anaheim on the attack, a position from which they rarely let up for the first period.

Anaheim eventually opened scoring 7:27 into the period when forward Ryan Kesler, who watched his own shot ring off the crossbar minutes before, was left alone on the rush and fed winger Matt Beleskey to rifle a puck from one knee past Ramo.

Calgary struggled to find a way out of their own zone, relying on Ramo's play to keep the score under control. And that he did, making one tough save after another to give the offense in front of him a fighting chance.

Shots after the first period favored the Ducks 20-9, and the Flames had to be happy the score wasn't worse.

"I thought the first period, we were good," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Other than the fact we didn't convert, I thought (it) was good. To have that many shots and only have a 1-0 lead, I was a little afraid (though). Then in the second period, they came at us really hard."

Indeed, once the second period opened, Calgary seemed to find a groove. The Flames pressed the Ducks in their end and finally gave Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen his first real work of the night.

Chants of 'Freddie! Freddie!' broke out as the netminder made a few implausible saves to keep the Flames off the board.

"They came really hard at us, which is usually how it goes after you get dominated in (the previous) period," Andersen said. "You try to change the momentum. But I think we stuck with it and we kept working hard and getting the puck to the net. There wasn't that much traffic to deal with. The (guys) were blocking shots a lot."

"They were going to give us their best push, and we generated a lot in the first period but they threw a lot at Freddie in the second," Kesler said. "(But) that's why Freddie is such a good goalie. If we don't play our game, and we're scrambling, Freddie calms us all down."

Twenty minutes of back and forth later and the score still favored the Ducks 1-0, as did the shots (29-21), but the Flames were playing with more confidence, and no longer let the big-bodied Ducks run amok.

"We stopped working as hard (in the second period) and they worked a lot harder than us," Boudreau said. "They created a lot of havoc in our end zone."

It was Ramo, though, who continued to steal the show with his impressive - and timely - saves.

"I thought Ramo was better than good," Boudreau said. "When you're playing against a goalie that good, you start to worry. You have to be perfect, and we weren't perfect."

Said Ramo: "We started playing with our strengths. We sped it up and we kept the puck deep. We got some zone time and played smart hockey and got some chances."

For all the Flames' effort, though, the Ducks are still the Ducks. Deep in the Flames zone, Perry set up charging defenseman Hampus Lindholm, who one-timed an insurance goal top-shelf on Ramo at 11:15 of the third period. It was the first NHL playoff goal of Lindholm's career.

The Ducks' 2-0 lead immediately drew chants of 'We Want Hiller!' from the capacity crowd at Honda Center.

"We weathered the storm for a while in the second period until (eventually) scoring a goal," Perry said. "This is our home building and we want to get two wins here before we go to (Calgary). We know it's going to be tough there; they're going to play hard."

Anaheim center Nate Thompson eventually added an empty net-score at 17:44 to ice the 3-0 win and extinguish the Flames.

"(Ramo) is a great goalie, and he made some key saves for us; it could have been a totally different game," said Flames center Sean Monahan. "But that what the playoffs are all about." Despite the final score, the Ducks acknowledged how close the game was to not going in their favor.

"I thought the pace of the game was an awful lot faster than the first game," Boudreau said. "It's what made it a very close game. The 3-0 score is flattering to us, but it was a 1-0 game the whole game."

Added Perry: "We played hard in the first period, and it carried us through the game. We want to get the lead in the first period and play with that lead, and we did that."

True to Ducks form, everyone has already turned the page. They are back to 0-0 in their heads, focused on the task that awaits them some 1,500 miles away.

"Our scouts told us it's a lot louder (in Calgary) than Winnipeg," Boudreau said. "They're good Canadian fans. I don't expect we'll get a great welcome. (Overall), we look at (the playoffs) like we have to play one great game. Then you break it down into periods, and then five-minute intervals. It's a lot easier to comprehend that as an individual, so that's how we do it."

And while they might be in a hole, the Flames aren't ready to admit defeat. They'll throw everything they have at the visitors.

"It's not the end of the world," Ramo said. "We're going home and we have two big home games. We feel really good playing at home. We win two games there and we're right back in it."