CALGARY -- Coach Glen Gulutzan said Sunday he feels the Calgary Flames remain confident despite losing the first two games of their Western Conference First Round series against the Anaheim Ducks on the road.
"I can tell you right now the sky-is-falling feeling isn't here," Gulutzan said. "We went into Anaheim trying to plant a seed that we can win and can win this series. We haven't got the result, but what we've done is we've planted the seed that these games are going to be close and contested and tough."
Game 3 is at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports 2, PRIME).
"Going into this Game 3, I think both teams are expecting the same thing," Gulutzan said. "There's no 'poor me' right now. We know we're in a series. We know every game of the series is going to be a battle. Anything we can do to get some puck luck and get more pucks and stuff to the net, we're going to do.
"We're not down in the dumps, I can tell you that."
Anaheim pushed its home winning streak against Calgary to 29 games with a 3-2 victory in Game 1 on Thursday and in Game 2 on Saturday. The Ducks have won 22 straight in the regular season and seven in a row in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since a 5-2 loss on April 25, 2006, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
Forward Sean Monahan is hoping a change in venue will lead to a change in fortunes.
"You have to be desperate," Monahan said. "You have to be ready to go. You have to be strong. It's a big game for us. To come back on home ice is pretty important. We've got to come out strong and be ready here for Game 3."
The Flames weren't far off from returning to Calgary with a split. Game 2 was tied 2-2 when Ryan Getzlaf's cross-ice pass deflected off Calgary forward Lance Bouma's skate and past goaltender Brian Elliott at 15:14 of the third period for the game-winner.
"Of course it's frustrating," forward Mikael Backlund said. "You've seen the puck bounce in the way it did, but we move on. You've got to have a short memory in the playoffs. It's a new day today and it'll be a new game tomorrow. We've just got to move on and look forward."
The Flames are looking forward, to a critical Game 3.
"We know we're playing a really good hockey team," Gulutzan said. "But if we continue … I can tell in their attitude that they fully believe they're going to come back and play hard. This game can change quickly. We've already talked about momentum before the season started and how quickly it shifts from game to game and within a game.
"We're hoping if we can continue, we'll change momentum."
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