former team

Ducks fall to Flames for their fifth consecutive loss

Ryan Strome scored his 500th career point with a goal against his former team, Morgan Frost had two goals and the Calgary Flames sent the Ducks to their fifth consecutive loss with a 5-3 victory Saturday night.

Joel Farabee and Matvei Gridin had a goal and an assist apiece for the Flames, who extended the Ducks’ late-season spiral by earning their first win over Anaheim in four meetings this season. Devin Cooley made 36 saves.

Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish scored in the third period, but the Ducks’ comeback from a 4-1 deficit fell short when Frost put his second goal into an empty net with 1:11 to play.

Beckett Sennecke also scored and Ville Husso stopped 15 shots during yet another rough defensive performance by the Ducks.

The Ducks are attempting to end the franchise’s seven-year playoff drought under first-year coach Joel Quenneville, but this skid has endangered the Ducks’ entire playoff candidacy even after they spent the past four weeks leading the mediocre Pacific Division.

The Ducks remained even with first-place Edmonton with 87 points because of the Oilers’ loss to Vegas, which is now just one point behind the division leaders with five games to play.

Strome sneaked behind Anaheim’s leaky defense and scored on a breakaway early in the second period, getting his fifth goal in 15 games since the Ducks traded him to Calgary last month. The veteran forward spent the previous 3½ seasons with the Ducks, but struggled to produce during inconsistent playing time from Quenneville before his departure at the deadline.

Sennecke opened the scoring when he drove the net and muscled home his 23rd goal, most among NHL rookies this season, but Calgary replied with four consecutive goals that prompted the Honda Center crowd to boo its team into the second intermission.

Carlsson got his 27th goal in the third, and McTavish fired home his second goal since January during a power play midway through the period. But Calgary repelled another Ducks power play and wrapped it up with Frost’s empty-netter.

Injuries left Ducks playing without top scorer Cutter Gauthier and defensemen Radko Gudas and Pavel Mintyukov.

Defenseman Tyson Hinds made his NHL debut for the Ducks, whose defensive struggles are the primary source of their late-season woes.

Up next for the Ducks: vs. Nashville at Honda Center on Tuesday night.

Source link

Galaxy can’t keep pace with Dejan Joveljic and Kansas City in loss

Dejan Joveljic had a goal and an assist against his former team, Lasse Johnsen had a goal and an assist in his league debut and Sporting Kansas City beat the Galaxy 2-1 on Saturday night.

Neither team scored until Joveljic used assists from Manu García and Johnsen to score two minutes into stoppage time for a 1-0 lead at halftime. García earned his first assist after tallying nine as a rookie last season.

Joveljić, along with Stephen Afrifa, set up an insurance goal by Johnsen in the 74th minute for a 2-0 advantage. Afrifa’s helper was first this season and his second in 39 appearances.

That proved necessary for the victory after Marco Reus used his head for an unassisted score in the 82nd minute to cut the Galaxy’s deficit to a goal. Reus scored for the first time this season and the seventh time in 31 career matches.

John Pulskamp finished with four saves to help Sporting KC (1-2-1) earn its first victory of the season while putting an end to a seven-match losing streak on the road dating to last season.

Novak Micovic saved two shots for the Galaxy (1-2-1).

Joveljic totaled 34 goals and 11 assists in 106 starts with the Galaxy from 2021-24. He had 15 goals and six assists during the Galaxy’s championship run in 2024 when he scored the second goal in a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bullls. His third goal this season gives him 21 along with three assists in 36 matches with Sporting KC.

The Galaxy played without Gabriel Pec, who was suspended for the match after receiving a red card in a 4-1 road loss to the Colorado Rapids last week. Joseph Paintsil was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The Galaxy have a slim lead in the all-time series 29-28-18, including a 19-9-9 record at home.

Both teams posted home victories in two matchups last season.

Up next for the Galaxy: at Portland Timbers on Sunday.

Source link