ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Nothing changed and everything might have for the Ducks, who may want the Calgary Flames more than ever to open up the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A possible prelude Tuesday night ended in the same manner Flames visits to Honda Center have ended for them since Randy Carlyle coached the Ducks the first time. But this 3-1 Ducks' victory, their 25th straight over the Flames at Honda, saw them pay a potential heavy price.
Cam Fowler left the ice under assistance at 6:09 of the third period after Calgary captain Mark Giordano caught him with a clear knee-on-knee hit that left the Ducks' minutes-eating defenseman unable to put any weight on his right leg well after taking a shot on goal.
The play, which could be looked at by the NHL's Department of Player Safety for possible supplementary discipline, infuriated the Ducks. Josh Manson took matters into his own hands immediately after Chris Wagner scored a goal by jumping Giordano and pounding on the defenseman.
If Fowler is lost for some time, it wouldn't the first knee injury he's had to deal with. A backbone of their blue line, the Ducks' leading scorer among their defenders missed time in 2013-14 and 2015-16 because of ligament sprains.
Already without regular defenders Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen for a second straight game because of upper-body injuries, the first-place Ducks were down to just three at one point when Korbinian Holzer and Brandon Montour were among many who spent time in the penalty box.
It didn't keep them from adding to their NHL-record streak for one team against another. Wagner's score was the capper on a night in which John Gibson was strong again in goal with 26 saves. Kevin Bieksa scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period.
Even Roman Turek has to be shaking his head at Calgary's otherworldly failure to leave Honda Center victorious. Turek was in goal when the Flames last won there in the regular season on Jan. 19, 2004. The one triumph overall in that span is nearly as far away _ a Game 3 first-round win in 2006.
The Ducks know about the streak. They're not big about talking it up, knowing they've won every kind of way during the stretch and hoping the law of averages doesn't decide it's time to tilt the scales back. But they don't mind it being in the Flames' heads if these teams do meet next week in a best-of-7 first-round series.
"It's something we talked about going into Calgary and going into that game that we wanted to play a good game and make these guys think it's going to be a tough, tough series if they do end up playing us in the first round," Bieksa said before the game. "Again, on home ice, there's been a little bit of history here between the two teams.
"To keep that on our side is what we're going to be looking for tonight."
Another game with the Ducks meant another goal for Patrick Eaves. Quickly becoming the pickup of all the deals done near the March 1 trade deadline, Eaves went right to the net and banged in a rebound past Flames goalie Brian Elliott, who had to relieve injured starter Chad Johnson.
The scoring play off a faceoff couldn't have been drawn up any better, with Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf using his backhand to direct the puck the right at Elliott and Eaves reading it perfectly. Eaves has 10 goals in 18 games with the Ducks since coming over from Dallas, where he already had a career-high 21.
Eight have come in the last nine contests and the Ducks may have to hope that he isn't emptying out his bag of goals now. Eaves's run is reminiscent of the late-season scoring burst Steve Thomas had upon landing in Anaheim, providing liftoff for the Ducks' 2003 stirring flight to the Stanley Cup Final.
And then Bieksa put the Ducks in the lead with one Elliott wished he had another chance to stop. A hard slap shot from the far edge of the right circle got through him, giving Bieksa his first goal since Dec. 15 to end a 47-game drought.
Calgary did have early momentum to try to end the 13-year hex. It was the controlling team in the first period, building an 11-3 shot advantage by putting together several energetic rushes up the ice as the Ducks misfired on passes and turned the puck over.
And the Flames made the early work pay off. As the Ducks scrambled about in their end, Giordano took a shot from the point that Gibson kicked away but Mikael Backlund was right there to knock in his 22nd goal of the season.
