Talbot has 44-save shutout for Flames in win against Ducks

ANAHEIM -- Cam Talbot made 44 saves for the Calgary Flames in a 6-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Thursday.

It was Talbot's first shutout of the season, the 21st of his NHL career and his first since making 39 saves in a 4-0 win at Anaheim on Jan. 6, 2019 for the Edmonton Oilers.
"I felt like I controlled the game the best I could," Talbot said. "I didn't leave too much laying around for them to bang in. A lot of their shots came from the outside. Makes it easy for me to control it."
WATCH: [All Flames vs. Ducks highlights]
It was the most saves by a Flames goalie in a shutout since Dan Bouchard made 45 for the Atlanta Flames against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 2, 1975.
Mikael Backlund and Mark Jankowski each scored two goals for Flames (30-23-6), who finished 3-1-0 on the road trip, scoring six goals in the each of the wins.
John Gibson was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots in the first period for Anaheim (23-27-7), which had a season-high five-game point streak end (3-0-2). Ryan Miller made 14 saves in relief.
"As much as you want to keep point streaks going, I think a kick in the rear end is good for you every once in a while," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.

Elias Lindholm made it 1-0 at 8:15 of the first period when he pushed the puck across the goal line after it got behind Gibson. Lindholm has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in a nine-game point streak.
Andrew Mangiapane stole the puck in the Anaheim zone and fed it to Backlund, who scored at 12:10 for a 2-0 lead
Oliver Kylington increased the lead to 3-0 at 13:39, taking advantage of a big defensive gap to skate into the left circle and score on a wrist shot.
"Getting down in the first period wasn't good for us," Eakins said. "We've got to come out and get that first goal. If we can't get the first one, we certainly can't get down two or three because the odds fly directly the other way on us."

Jankowski scored on a wrist shot from the high slot to make it 4-0 at 19:05.
"It was 4-0 after the first, but with 40 minutes, there's a lot of time there, so it was really important, we wanted to focus on getting the next goal," Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson said. "We didn't do that, and then we just kept slipping behind."
Backlund scored shorthanded at 16:46 of the second period for a 5-0 lead. It was his fourth goal in the past three games.
"When I wasn't scoring at the beginning of the season I would keep telling myself, 'My whole career I've been a second-half player,'" Backlund said. "Every year I have to tell myself that because for some reason I just can't put it in the net in the fall."

Jankowski made it 6-0 at 6:55 of the third period. He has five goals in the past seven games after not scoring in his first 38 games this season.
"Ever since I got that first one in Ottawa [on Jan. 18] the weight was lifted off my shoulders a little bit," Jankowski said. "I was able to play a little bit more freely."

They said it

"We got some timely scoring early. I liked the response of our guys. We talked about how important it was to come out and play a solid first period, get into the game early. I thought the guys did a good job of that." -- Calgary coach Geoff Ward
"We're a team that's challenged to score goals so we have to be on point right away defensively, and to a man, and that includes all ages on our team." -- Ducks coach Dallas Eakins

Need to know

The Ducks won't win a game against the Flames in Anaheim during the regular season for the first time in their history. The six goals were the most the Flames have scored in Anaheim. ... Talbot has three shutouts in 16 starts against the Ducks and has saved 112-of-113 shots in his past three games against them. ... Backlund extended his point streak to five games (four goals, four assists). ... Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, three assists). ... The Flames were playing the second game of a back to back. They lost 5-3 at the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. … The Ducks were trying to win two straight in regulation for the first time since Oct. 16-18. ... The Ducks went 0-for-4 on the power play and are 1-for-21 (.048 percent) in their past eight games.

What's next

Flames: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, CITY, NBCSCH, NHL.TV)
Ducks: At the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; SNP, PRIME, NHL.TV)