Flames Get a Victory, Key Injury

Another Mighty Duck game, another injured opponent.

Andrei Trefilov, Calgary’s standout rookie goaltender, became the latest casualty when he left Wednesday night’s game on a stretcher with an undetermined injury to his right knee late in the second period of the Ducks’ 4-2 loss in front of 17,174 at Anaheim Arena.

The Ducks are suddenly bad news for the other guys, and not just by hanging close in the standings.

Winnipeg’s Teemu Selanne suffered a partially torn Achilles’ tendon against the Ducks last week, and the Kings had a passel of injuries in their victory over the Ducks on Saturday--Gary Shuchuk hurt his knee, Luc Robitaille had a minor ankle injury, and Wayne Gretzky was cut on the gum, the nose or nowhere at all, depending on whom you talk to.

At least this time, Duck defenseman Don McSween had nothing to do with it. McSween accidentally cut Selanne with his skate blade, was in on a collision with Shuchuk and was the unintentional perpetrator of the controversial high-sticking major against Gretzky.

Trefilov was hurt when he tried to make a sudden move in the crease but didn’t appear to be hit by a Duck.

“It was not a serious collision or anything, he just goes down in a funny manner,” said Calgary Coach Dave King, who reported that Trefilov was taken to a hospital and there was concern about ligament damage.

The Ducks were trying to pick up a point or two against the top team in the Pacific Division, but they ended up learning what it feels like to play themselves.

The score was tied, 2-2, entering the third, but the Ducks made a couple of errors and Calgary’s Robert Reichel scored twice to claim two points for the Flames.

“We had a chance to make up some ground tonight because of the Kings’ loss (6-4 to Edmonton), but we had a couple of mental breakdowns that cost us goals,” right wing Terry Yake said. “They just waited for us to make the mistakes, so in a sense they beat us at our own game.”

Reichel scored the go-ahead goal at 2:05 after picking off a pass by Duck defenseman Bill Houlder in the Duck zone and beating goalie Ron Tugnutt from high in the slot.

Tugnutt, making his first start since Jan. 16, didn’t appear to make much of a move to stop the shot, but the puck took a bit of a bad bounce after being partially deflected by a defenseman’s stick.

Reichel gave the Flames a cushion at 14:55 with his 22nd goal of the season when Calgary got out on a 3-on-1 rush with McSween the only player back.

“Obviously it was a disappointing loss,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “It was a strange goal on the third one. Then they just went into a defensive shell. Once they got that one-goal lead, they pretty much shut us down.”

Trefilov, 24, had consecutive shutouts this season and entered the game with a 2.47 goals-against average. With Mike Vernon on the verge of recovering from a twisted knee, he has been crucial to the Flames.

Trefilov went down in the crease as Tim Sweeney swung his stick in an attempt to swat in a rebound, but television replays showed no contact.

With medical personnel working deliberately to move Trefilov to a stretcher and carry him off the ice and only 5.5 seconds remaining in the period, referee Ron Hoggarth sent the teams into the dressing rooms early.

Trevor Kidd took over in goal, but not much was asked immediately from him. The Ducks had a harmless shot in the final seconds of the second period, but didn’t manage another until 11:28 of the third.

Joe Nieuwendyk gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 10:55 of the first, but the Ducks evened the score at 2:15 of the second on Joe Sacco’s 65-foot slap shot from the edge of the center faceoff circle.

The Ducks led, 2-1, after Yake scored his 16th goal of the season at 14:48 of the second, but Calgary came right back, with Gary Roberts tying the score 59 seconds later.

And once they got the lead, the Flames focused on defense.

“Calgary did the exact same to us as we’re supposed to do to them,” Yake said.

Duck Notes

Anatoli Semenov, who played two games after returning from a seven-week layoff with a dislocated left elbow, missed a second consecutive game because of soreness in the elbow. Defenseman Alexei Kasatonov (bruised right foot) was also scratched for a second consecutive game.