Ducks Beat Flames for Third in a Row : Hockey: Semenov and Kasatonov fuel 2-1 victory. Hebert makes 33 saves, four in the final 1:51.

The Mighty Ducks learned their lessons and they learned them well, and on Monday they gave themselves a reward--a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames, the team with the second-best record in the NHL.

It was a striking success for the Ducks, who have now won three games in a row and seven overall. Their winning streak has come the hard way--on the road, against Pacific Division teams. And the victory over division-leading Calgary came without a day’s rest after beating Edmonton on Sunday.

“We said at the start of the season a playoff spot was our goal, and everybody laughed at us,” right wing Terry Yake said. “Well, we aren’t that far off.”

The Ducks trail fourth-place San Jose by two points and are only four behind the third-place Kings, whom they will play for the first time Dec. 2 at the Forum.

The Ducks had won only two of 13 games at one stretch, and had lost by a single goal seven times. Twice before, the Ducks had played well against the Flames, only to ruin their chances to win with errors at crucial moments. It was becoming the story of the season--good effort, one-goal loss.

“The difference was we played a full 60 minutes,” defenseman Bill Houlder said. “We’re a tired team, but we played intelligently. A tie would have been a loss to us, just like it was at home.”

Calgary gained a 2-2 tie in the final 20 seconds at Anaheim in October. This time, the Ducks fought off the Flames’ last frantic efforts, with Guy Hebert making four saves in the final 1:51 after the Flames went on a power play when Garry Valk was called for holding Gary Roberts.

They held off a six-on-four attack for 37 seconds after Calgary pulled goalie Mike Vernon for an extra attacker.

“I think the guys did a great job. We really wanted to win this one,” said Hebert, who made 33 saves. “We’ve been too close to beating this team twice before to let it slip away this time.”

Earlier this month, the Ducks lost, 5-4, in Calgary after giving up a short-handed goal to Roberts on a breakaway. Hebert wasn’t going to let it happen again.

The Ducks scored first for the third consecutive game, and took a 2-0 lead into the second period.

Anatoli Semenov, whose nine-game point streak ended against Edmonton on Sunday, got right back in the swing with a power-play goal at 5:53 of the first with Sandy McCarthy off for hooking. Defenseman Alexei Kasatonov, a former teammate of Semenov’s on the Soviet national team, scored on a slap shot from the point at 11:15.

The Flames scored their only goal in the second period on German Titov’s deflection of a point shot at 4:32.

Duck Notes

Coach Ron Wilson was irate with the officials for calling a high-sticking double-minor and not a major on Ronnie Stern after Shaun Van Allen was cut in the first period. “That’s the seventh time this season we’ve been cut by a high-stick and we haven’t picked up a five-minute major yet,” Wilson said. Left wing Tim Sweeney suffered a broken nose in the game on a high-stick with no penalty. However, Wilson didn’t blame it on replacements, saying it was a season-long problem and he has protested to NHL vice president Brian Burke by letter. Right wing Peter Douris did not play because of illness. . . . With his assist on Alexei Kasatonov’s goal, Stu Grimson got his second point of the season, matching his offensive output all of last season in 78 games with Chicago.