Injury-Riddled Ducks Are Shut Out by Flames

The Mighty Ducks are in the bottom five in the NHL in scoring when they’re healthy . So imagine the Ducks without their top three scorers.

That’s what the Calgary Flames saw Monday at The Pond of Anaheim, and they handed the Ducks their ninth shutout loss of the season, 3-0, in front of a crowd of 17,174.

Calgary goalie Mike Vernon made 27 saves for his third shutout of the season and ninth of his career.

“Look at who’s missing; it’s incredible we won our last two games,” said Duck Coach Ron Wilson, whose team had won six of its last eight before Monday. “We’ve got our three best scorers out and Tony Semenov is 50%. And we lost to a team I feel has the best chance to win the Stanley Cup.”

The Flames, winners of the Pacific Division, have quietly moved in on Detroit for the best record in the Western Conference. They trail the Red Wings by a point, but the Red Wings have two games left and Calgary one.

It was a 1-0 game after two periods, but Calgary scored twice in the first six minutes of the third, ending the suspense.

Theoren Fleury made it 2-0 at 5:28 when German Titov deftly redirected Al MacInnis’ point shot to him on the power play, with Fleury lifting the puck high over Mikhail Shtalenkov.

Twelve seconds later, it was 3-0 after Wes Walz skated in on a breakaway after the faceoff. That span marked the quickest two goals the Ducks have allowed all season.

“I’d have to watch it again to see what happened,” Wilson said of the defensive breakdown.

It’s probably just as well for the Ducks that the season ends this week, because their injury list grows daily.

Left wing Garry Valk, who had become the team’s leading healthy scorer, was scratched after leaving the ice during the morning skate with a bruised left knee.

Terry Yake, who shares the team scoring lead with injured Bob Corkum (out for the season with a severed foot tendon) was scratched for the second consecutive game after suffering a mild concussion, and probably won’t play in the final game of the season Wednesday against Vancouver.

Nor is Todd Ewen likely to play. He has a sprained left shoulder. And defenseman Mark Ferner strained his right hamstring during the first period and did not return.

Neither team scored Monday until Calgary broke through at 9:17 of the second period.

Shtalenkov made a save on Kelly Kisio from close range, but MacInnis was allowed to sweep in unchecked to knock the rebound in with Shtalenkov already down.