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Red-hot Flames rout slumping Ducks

Mar 13, 2014 - 5:39 AM Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Mikael Backlund scored twice and added an assist, as the Calgary Flames scorched the Anaheim Ducks, 7-2, on Wednesday at the Saddledome.

Mark Giordano notched a goal and an assist, while Mike Cammalleri, T.J. Galiardi and Ladislav Smid each scored once to help the Flames halt a brief two-game slide.

Corban Knight capped the scoring with his first NHL goal and Joni Ortio backstopped the victory with 20 saves.

Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino scored for the Ducks, who have lost four straight games.

"I really have nothing right now," Anaheim head coach Bruce Boudreau said when asked why his team is struggling of late. "It's easy to say just pick it up and do that, but we better do some soul searching."

Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller was chased after giving up three goals on five shots in the first period. Frederik Andersen entered and allowed four goals on 20 shots in relief.

Giordano opened the scoring 3:39 in when he blasted a heavy slapper from just above the left circle that beat Hiller high to the short side.

Calgary's Kevin Westgarth went off for hooking at 5:56 to give the Ducks a power play, but a 2-on-1 rush from the Flames saw Paul Byron feed Galiardi on the doorstep for a tap-in and a 2-0 lead at 7:10.

Cammalleri put home a rebound from the slot with Calgary on the power play at 11:28, and after Andersen replaced Hiller between the pipes, Backlund was credited with his 15th of the season at 13:28 when his pass from the right circle to the front of the net deflected off a stick and snuck across the goal line for a 4-0 Calgary lead.

Backlund netted his second of the night with Calgary skating shorthanded at 1:31 of the second, but Cogliano scored from in front off a behind-the-net feed from Jakob Silfverberg to get the Ducks on the board at 11:30.

"I thought that we just matched their intensity right from the start," Calgary head coach Bob Hartley said. "We caught a couple of breaks that we deserved because we created them. Two shorthanded goals, a power play goal, it was pretty fun to watch our guys go."

Smid scored with 1:11 left in the second to restore Calgary's five-goal lead, and after Bonino notched his 17th of the season 7:45 in the third, Knight wheeled around just inside the right circle and ripped a shot past Andersen for his first NHL marker with 1:57 to play.

Game Notes

The Flames scored seven goals for the first time since Feb. 13, 2013 against Dallas ... Anaheim is a pedestrian 7-8-2 over its last 17 games ... The Ducks dropped to 19-10-3 on the road this season ... Calgary went 1-for-4 on the power play ... Byron, Lance Bouma and T.J. Brodie each recorded two assists for the Flames.