The Calgary Flames still haven't figured out how to beat the Anaheim Ducks on the road. Now they'll have at least six more months to think about ending one of the longest droughts in team sports.
Jakob Silfverberg scored twice, Ryan Kesler had a goal and three assists as the Ducks tied an NHL record for consecutive regular-season home wins over one team with an 8-3 thumping of the Flames on Wednesday night.
Corey Perry, Brandon Pirri, Jamie McGinn, Nate Thompson and rookie Shea Theodore also scored, helping Anaheim take over first place in the Pacific Division with its 23rd in a row over the Flames at Honda Center.
The Philadelphia Flyers won 23 straight over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Spectrum from 1980-87. The Flames haven't won in Anaheim since Jan. 19, 2004, when Roman Turek made 36 saves in a 5-1 victory and the head coaches were Darryl Sutter and Mike Babcock.
"We want to make this building a tough place to come into, and tonight it definitely was a tough place to come into," Kesler said. "That's a banged-up team and a team that's depleted. They've got a lot of young kids in the lineup that are vying for spots for next year, so they're going to have games like that."
The Ducks, aiming for their fourth straight division title, are a point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings with six games left on the schedule and trail Dallas and St. Louis by five for the Western Conference lead.
Nick Cousins and Sam Gagner scored in a shootout after Brayden Schenn tied the game late in the third period to lift Philadelphia to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.
The win propelled the Flyers out of a tie with idle Detroit for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Alex Ovechkin scored in regulation for Washington (54-16-6), which was seeking a franchise record for victories after already clinching home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs with the league's best regular-season record.
Steve Mason made 29 saves in regulation and overtime for the Flyers and stopped T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the tiebreaker.
"Tonight is a nice step forward," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "We're excited with the way our group is playing. We needed those points."
The game pitted teams that could match up in the first round of the playoffs. Washington claimed the second Presidents' Trophy in club history with Monday's 4-1 win over Columbus.
Alex Chiasson and Zack Smith scored as the Ottawa Senators end a four-game road losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.
Andrew Hammond stopped 20 shots for his sixth win of the season as Ottawa improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven against the Jets.
Mark Scheifele scored the tying goal for Winnipeg at 6:55 of the third period, but Chiasson put Ottawa back in front less than two minutes later. A deflected pass went off Scheifele's skate, leaving a loose puck in front of the Jets' net. Chiasson quickly jumped on it and slapped it in for his eighth of the season.
Michael Hutchinson finished with 18 saves for Winnipeg.
AP
