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CALGARY – Flames rookie Andrew Mangiapane had a lucky rebound and took full advantage of it.
Mangiapane opened the scoring at 16:31 of the third period on Friday as Calgary beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 for a fourth consecutive victory.
The rookie tried to pbad the puck to Garnet Hathaway. Instead, he hit Ducks defenseman Jaycob Megna before coming back to him and he shot Ryan Miller.
"It's a good quick game from (TJ Brodie) I tried to give it to (Hathaway) and it hit the guy's skate and came back to me and I had an empty net," Mangiapane said. . "It's really a nice feeling to reach that goal and it was two big points."
The 22-year-old has warmed with three goals in his last seven games after failing to score in his first 26 career NHL games, including 16 coming this season.
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"Every game has grown for me," said Mangiapane, recently questioned about his level of confidence. "Playing with (Derek Ryan) and (Hathaway) to be more comfortable and build chemistry, they're smart players to play with, so it's easy to shoot the puck and create opportunities."
Flames coach Bill Peters likes what the team has in the 5-foot-10 left wing, a sixth round pick in 2015.
"He's a dynamic and competitive little guy, he's tough in slices, he's tough, he's in difficult areas, we really love him," Peters said. "He spent his time and learned the trade in the American League, which is good and important, he came here now and this line has been really beneficial for us."
Brodie also scored for Calgary (38-16-7) for a two-point night. The Flames took three points ahead of the San Jose Sharks for the first place in the Pacfic division.
Derek Grant scored for Anaheim (24-28-9). The Ducks have split the first two stages of a four-game trip that will continue Saturday night in Edmonton. The Ducks had won three of their first four games under Acting Head Coach Bob Murray.
Ducks' last injury, Ryan Getzlaf (upper body), was held at the last minute.
"I think there are a lot of positives to postpone this game tomorrow," said Adam Henrique, center of Anaheim.
"They have a good group and we stayed with them for most of the game, obviously some mistakes in the back of our net and we did not take advantage of those power games we had had. "
Combined with Minnesota's wild victory, the Ducks are now seven points behind Wild Card's second place in the Western Conference.
"It's always hard to lose and these are valuable points, but this team is one of the best in the league," said Ducks rookie Terry Troy. "We've seen what we can do as a team if we skate and play as we can, it's worth losing, but it's something we can really build on."
In the third game of injury, Miller had 26 saves to fall to 6-3-1.
Making his fifth straight start for the Flames, Mike Smith made 25 saves to improve to 18-11-2.
The only two goals scored in a dull opening of 40 minutes were separated by five minutes early in the second.
At 1:22, Brodie's goal shot deflected off Megna and pbaded Miller.
Smith was the culprit on the tying goal. He left his net to try to play a puck that came around the end boards. Instead, Carter Rowney arrived at the same time and threw the puck into the slot where Grant sent a punctual shooter in empty purpose.
Visibly upset by this error, Smith then threw his stick on the ice.
"I've left a lot of goals that were not very good – it's one thing to let it go in. It's over, it's down. You just have to worry about this next move and continue, keep playing, "said Smith.
Remarks: Rrookie Calgary D Oliver Kylington (lower body) did not play … Three Flames reached an important milestone: Mikael Backlund (600), Sam Bennett (300) and Noah Hanifin (300) …. The Flames improve to 28-4-1 when they score first.
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