Capitals sent to 6th straight loss by Ducks, who snap own skid

WASHINGTON >> Jakob Silfverberg scored the goahead goal early in the third period, John Gibson made 41 saves and the Anaheim Ducks handed the reeling Washington Capitals a sixth consecutive defeat, 4-2 Thursday night.

Isac Lundestrom, Troy Terry and Derek Grant also scored for Anaheim, which ended a six-game skid.

Gibson’s 21st save gave him the most through a goaltender’s first 40 games of the season since Hall of Famer Jacques Plante made 1,396 for the New York Rangers in 1963-64.

The Capitals are mired in their longest losing streak since losing seven in a row in 2019 and their longest stretch without a point in nearly two decades. They last lost six consecutive games all in regulation in October 2003.

Alex Ovechkin had a few quality scoring chances, but no points in his first game back after missing the past week for the death of his father. WILD 2, BLUE JACKETS 0 >> Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots for his 73rd career shutout and Minnesota beat Columbus for its fourth straight win.

Fleury is 12th on the NHL’s career shutouts list, three behind Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito, who are tied for 10th.

Brandon Duhaime and Kirill Kaprizov scored for Minnesota, which passed Colorado for third place in the Central Division.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 23 shots for Columbus, which was shut out for the sixth time this season and third at home. The Blue Jackets have lost four of their last five home games.

OILERS 7, PENGUINS 2 >>

Connor McDavid scored twice to push his total to a career-best 46 goals, and Edmonton embarrassed Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh.

Leon Draisaitl picked up his 35th goal for the Oilers, who improved to 10-1-5 in their last 16 games. Warren Foegele, Kailer Yamamoto, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Devin Shore also scored for Edmonton.

Kris Letang scored early in the first and late in the third period for the Penguins, who lost their fourth straight.

DEVILS 4, KINGS 3, OT >>

Red-hot Dawson Mercer scored his second goal of the game 2:30 into overtime and New Jersey rallied late to beat Los Angeles.

Tomas Tatar and Nico Hischier also scored for the Devils, with Hischier netting the tying goal with 38 seconds left in regulation. Vitek Vanecek had 19 saves.

Anze Kopitar, Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Sean Durzi scored for Los Angeles. Pheonix Copley made 27 saves.

Mercer, who has seven goals in five games, tipped a shot by Dougie Hamilton past Copley for the winner.

RED WINGS 4, RANGERS 1 >>

Filip Zadina scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and Ville Husso made 30 saves to lift Detroit past New York.

Andrew Copp, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Hronek also had goals for the Red Wings, who have surged into the playoff picture with seven wins in eight games, giving them a chance to earn a wild card and end a sevenyear postseason drought.

Vincent Trocheck pulled New York into a 1-all tie shortly before Zadina scored, but the Rangers didn’t make enough plays at both ends of the ice to slow one of the NHL’s hottest teams.

SABRES 6, LIGHTNING 5, OT

>> Ilya Lyubushkin scored a short-handed goal 1:41 into overtime, helping Tage Thompson and Buffalo top Tampa.

With Thompson scoring three times in his fourth hat trick of the season, Buffalo led 5-3 early in the third period. After Tampa Bay rallied, the Sabres got the win when Lyubushkin beat Andrei Vasilevskiy on a breakaway for his first goal of the season.

Zemgus Girgensons and Jack Quinn also scored for Buffalo, and Eric Comrie made 36 saves.

Anthony Cirelli, Ross Colton, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Braydon Point scored for Tampa Bay.