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Mike Santorelli's two goals help Anaheim Ducks douse Calgary Flames

By Laurence Heinen, The Sports Xchange

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Anaheim Ducks weren't pleased with the way they played through two periods of Monday afternoon's game against the Calgary Flames.

"We knew we needed to come out in the third and play with more structure," said center Mike Santorelli, who scored a pair of goals to lead the Ducks to a 6-4 win over the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome. "We were just taking too many penalties. We weren't playing structured. We weren't playing to our strength. We needed to settle it down."

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Santorelli scored his second goal of the game 51 seconds into the third period when he batted the puck out of mid-air past Ortio to give the Ducks a two-goal lead they never relinquished.

"It's always nice when you have a couple-goal lead on a team," said Santorelli. "It takes off a little bit of the pressure."

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Right winger Corey Perry scored once and added an assist for the Ducks (28-19-8), who are in the midst of a season-long seven-game road trip during which they have compiled a 3-1-1 record so far.

"When we're playing our best, we're tight defensively and that's the way we need to be," said Santorelli. "Every game's important. We've got to keep building and keep getting better."

Defensemen Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm and right winger Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim, while defenseman Cam Fowler had three assists.

"We're figuring out ways to win, that's for sure," said Fowler, who wasn't happy that the Flames were able to jump out to a 3-2 lead after the first period. "It's not how we like to do it."

Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen made 32 saves to win his 13th game of the season.

Calgary's top line of right winger Jiri Hudler, left winger Johnny Gaudreau and center Sean Monahan combined for nine points in a losing cause. Hudler had two goals and an assist, Gaudreau scored once and set up two others, while Monahan chipped in with three helpers.

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Defenseman Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist for the Flames (25-27-3), who have lost two in a row.

"You can't expect to win games letting in six goals," said center/left winger Sam Bennett, who almost pulled the Flames within a goal in the third period if not for a great pad save by Andersen. "They were getting to the net a lot. They were generating a lot. We've got to do a better job of keeping them to the outside."

Goalie Jonas Hiller started in net for Calgary, but was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 17 shots. He was replaced by netminder Joni Ortio, who wound up taking the loss after making nine saves in a relief appearance.

"They were putting bodies to the net and that's how they scored a lot of their goals," said Ortio. "They've got big guys. They played simple hockey - throwing pucks on net and then capitalizing on second chances."

Trailing 3-2 after the first period, Perry and Vatanen scored power-play goals 65 seconds apart early in the second, which prompted Calgary coach Bob Hartley to replace Hiller in net with Ortio.

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Rakell then took a drop pass from Perry and snapped a shot past Ortio at 12:18 of the middle frame to put the Ducks up 5-3.

The Flames pulled back within one with 6.5 seconds remaining in the second when Hudler tapped a rebound past Andersen.

Gaudreau opened the scoring at 5:56 of the first period during a man-advantage for the Flames before the Ducks tied things up at 9:59 with a power-play goal of their own when Lindholm blasted a point shot through traffic over Hiller's left shoulder.

Hamilton put the Flames up 2-1 just 83 seconds later with yet another power-play goal as he fired a slap shot from the point past Andersen.

The first-period scoring frenzy continued as Santorelli made a nice move before snapping a shot from the slot past Hiller at 13:48 before Hudler answered right back with his eighth of the season at 17:05. Hudler was actually trying to pass to center Sean Monahan, but Ducks defenseman Simon Despres inadvertently redirected the puck through Andersen's legs.

NOTES: Ducks G John Gibson sat out Monday afternoon's game due to an upper-body injury he sustained in the second period of Anaheim's 3-2 overtime road win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. ... G Anton Khudobin, who was recalled from the AHL's San Diego Gulls on Sunday, served as starting G Frederik Andersen's backup on Monday. ... Anaheim's other scratches were D Korbinian Holzer and C Harry Zolnierczyk. ... Although Calgary RW David Jones practiced with the Flames on Sunday, he missed his second straight game on Monday due to a lower-body injury. ... Calgary's other scratches were C Matt Stajan and D Kris Russell, the latter of whom missed Sunday's practice. ... Flames G Karri Ramo missed his second straight game with a knee injury he sustained in the third period of Calgary's 6-5 shootout win over the Sharks in San Jose on Thursday.

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