Ducks beat Flames to take top spot in Pacific Division

CALGARY, Alberta -- Logan Shaw knew Ryan Kesler was going to make an aggressive move, so he wanted to be in place to help out.

Shaw scored with 3:06 left in the third period to lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.

"That one felt nice," said Shaw who drove hard to the net to swat the rebound of Kesler's shot past Calgary goalie Brian Elliott for just his third goal of the season -- and second against the Flames.

"When I saw Kes going, I figured I may as well jump up there with him. I knew he was going to throw the puck at the net or behind the net so I was just going to the right place."

Patrick Eaves, Jakob Silfverberg and Korbinian Holzer also scored for the Ducks, who moved ahead of Edmonton into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. Kesler had three assists and Jonathan Bernier made 18 saves to improve to 10-0-2 in his past 12 games.

"I was just trying to create a rebound off the net," Kesler said about Shaw's clutch goal. "I knew both their D went to me. I was just trying to get rid of it."

Kris Versteeg had two goals and Michael Frolik also scored for Calgary. TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano each had two assists and Brian Elliott finished with 30 saves, including a highlight-reel stop in the second period when he kicked out his left leg to get a skate on a point-blank shot by Ryan Getzlaf.

"That's just desperation and that's why he's been so good for us lately and put us in the position that we're in right now," Flames forward Troy Brouwer said.

The Flames and Ducks play again Tuesday night at Anaheim, where Calgary has lost 24 straight regular-season games dating back to Jan. 19, 2004.

With the score tied 2-2 midway through the second period, Anaheim pressed hard to retake the lead, but were continually denied by Elliott who made nice saves to stop quality scoring opportunities by Eaves, Rickard Rakell and Ryan Getzlaf.

The Ducks' persistence paid off as they took a 3-2 lead with 2:07 left in the second period when Holzer pinched in off the point to take a pass from Ryan Getzlaf before snapping a shot past Elliott.

Frolik tipped Giordano's point shot past Bernier at 5:42 of the third to tie it again.

Trailing 2-0 after one period, the Flames tied on Versteeg's power-play goals 6:13 apart in the second.

He fired a shot to the top corner past Bernier to cut the deficit in half at 3:48 of the middle period. Versteeg then tied it at 10:01 as he staked out from the corner and shoveled a shot past Bernier on a two-man advantage.

Eaves opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 11:32 of the first period. Elliott stopped the initial point shot by Cam Fowler with Eaves digging out the rebound in the crease before snapping a shot past the Calgary goalie for his seventh goal in eight games.

Silfverberg made it 2-0 lead with 56.2 seconds remaining in the opening period when he took a drop pass from Kesler and snapped a perfect shot to the top corner over Elliott's blocker.

Game notes
Anaheim called up D Shea Theodore from the San Diego of the AHL on Sunday and he made it to Calgary on time to suit up for his 31st game of the season for the Ducks. Anaheim lost defensemen Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm to upper-body injuries during a 3-2 overtime loss at Edmonton on Saturday. ... After sitting out Saturday's game against the Oilers, D Brandon Montour also made his return to Anaheim's lineup against Calgary.

UP NEXT

Ducks: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.

Flames: At Anaheim on Tuesday night.