Ducks rookie Leo Carlsson injured in shutout loss to Flames – Daily News

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ANAHEIM — The Ducks welcomed back two core players after extended absences on Thursday night, but they kissed two points goodbye when they were defeated by the Calgary Flames, 3-0, at Honda Center.

They likely lost another budding star as well.

First-year sensation and No. 2 overall draft pick Leo Carlsson left the game in the third period with what appeared to be a grisly lower-body injury.

Carlsson became entangled with Calgary defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, who fell onto Carlsson’s right leg, causing it to contort unnaturally as both men went down in a heap at the sideboards near center ice.

“You could see it when Weegar fell on him, in any sport, when that happens, it’s not good. So, I’ll leave that to the medical staff,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.

Carlsson’s agonizing departure was the lowest blow in a bout Cronin categorized as “a comedy of errors” for his club, which was out-shot with the extra man by an astonishingly lopsided 19-1 count.

“The penalty killing was all (Lukáš) Dostál, I think they had like 18 shots on their power play, which is incredible, right? Then our power play was just bad; it was a bad night,” Cronin said. “We couldn’t make a pass, we couldn’t shoot a puck [and] we were whiffing. I think it was the worst game we’ve played all year in terms of execution.”

Dostál made 41 saves on a night when he was resplendent, even in a loss. Veteran goalie John Gibson rejoined the team Thursday as well after the birth of his youngest child, the same day Mason McTavish and Jamie Drysdale returned to action after recovering from injuries.

The Ducks, who had won two in a row, fell to 3-14 since Nov. 15 as they begin their season-long eight-game homestand.

For Calgary, Nick DeSimone scored his first NHL goal at age 29. Elias Lindholm tacked on a power-play tally and assisted on A.J. Greer’s empty-netter. Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves in his first shutout of the season and the 200th victory of his career.

Drysdale had not played since the Ducks’ home opener on Oct. 15. A torn labrum last year and a mid-body malady this season robbed him of 103 of a possible 113 games played prior to Thursday. McTavish had been out since Dec. 2, when he sustained an upper-body injury early in a 4-3 victory over Colorado. Drysdale played a strong defensive game, including a moment late in the second period when he swiped the puck off the goal line twice in a row to prevent scores. McTavish finished the night centering the Ducks’ top line once Carlsson was injured.

“I was just excited to get back out there and play some hockey,” said Drysdale, whom Cronin said was “really good” in terms of his energy and ability to drive play.

“[My mind was] completely blank. You just see a puck on your goal line, you’re like ‘(shoot), this probably shouldn’t be here,’” Drysdale, who was eager to aid his goalie, said of his goal-saving plays. “Dosty played a hell of a game, kept us in it the entire game with countless unreal saves.”

The Ducks’ third period was marred by Carlsson’s injury near its midpoint and later saw Lindholm steal the puck as the Ducks gathered for a six-on-five breakout, setting up Greer’s empty-net goal with two minutes to play.

In the second period, a pair of near misses, one for each team, was reminiscent of a sequence in New Jersey when Troy Terry and the Devils’ Tyler Toffoli traded pings off the post just before the Devils scored a goal. This time, it was Max Jones, who fanned in the slot, and Calgary’s Adam Ruzicka, who struck the crossbar. Soon after, the Ducks took their league-worst 10th minor penalty for too many men, leading to Lindholm’s man-advantage goal. He trailed the rush and despite sound back pressure by Sam Carrick, who first lifted Lindholm’s stick and then pressed down on it with his own, flicked a wrist shot from prime real estate past Dostál.

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