Chicago was without Patrick Kane

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ANAHEIM , Calif. (AP) Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle doesn’t know what’s behind the confluence of streaks bolstering the Ducks‘ playoff chances. Right now, he’s just trying to make it last.John Gibson made 36 saves for his 14th career shutout, Rickard Rakell scored for the fourth straight game and the Ducks extended their home point streak to nine games with a 4-0 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.The Ducks are 7-0-2 in their last nine home games and 7-1-1 in their last nine overall. Gibson has won a career-best six consecutive starts, and Rakell has six goals in his last four games.All that has pushed Anaheim up to second in the Pacific Division, moving one point ahead of San Jose after picking up a third straight win overall.”If I knew that answer I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing and be making a lot more money if I could figure that out and have an explanation for that, but it just seems that talented athletes find ways to get on hot streaks and they continue to roll,” Carlyle said. ”It’s no different than a golfer gets on a hot streak, gets in a groove, a pitcher gets in a groove. Things seem to go their way.”Adam Henrique , Hampus Lindholm and Nick Ritchie also scored for the Ducks. Ryan Getzlaf and Josh Manson each had two assists.”I think we’re just playing, like we have the last few years,” Gibson said. ”It’s been a different year as far as injuries and personnel and whatnot, but we’re all here now and we want to make the most of it.”The Ducks went up 1-0 1:24 into the game on Henrique’s 20th goal. With Tom Wilson in the penalty box for interference, Henrique scored on a wrist shot from the slot.Rakell and Getzlaf had assists on the Ducks’ fifth power-play goal in their last eight games.The Capitals have allowed power-play goals in five of their last seven games, having killed 72.7 percent (16 of 22) of penalties in those games.Lindholm doubled the lead to 2-0 at 13:15. He fired a shot from the blue line that goalie Braden Holtby couldn’t see through traffic for his 10th goal, tying his career high set in 2015-16.”We didn’t help ourselves a whole lot starting that way, but it wasn’t just that,” Capitals center Lars Eller said. ”It was execution of passes , losing battles along the wall, being second on puck. Just being a split-second behind all the time. We’re not really a slow team, but in the first we looked slow because we were always chasing.”While the Ducks are surging, the Capitals are trying to put together some consistent play. Holtby was pulled early in the second period after giving up three goals on nine shots. Philipp Grubauer made eight saves in relief for the Capitals, who have lost three straight road games.Washington failed to put together three straight wins, something it hasn’t done since notching five in a row Dec. 28-Jan. 9.Rakell made it 3-0 at 5:27 in the second period. He beat Holtby with a powerful wrist shot from the left circle, prompting Capitals coach Barry Trotz to turn to Grubauer. Holtby has been pulled from four of his 11 starts since the beginning of February.”Everybody goes through some dry spells, and he’s having one right now,” Trotz said.Ritchie picked up the empty-netter with 1:26 remaining.NOTES: Getzlaf had multiple assists for the third straight game. He has two goals and 10 assists in his last six games. … Manson has a point in three straight games , with one goal and three assists during the streak. … The Ducks have killed 25 straight penalties.UP NEXTCapitals: Visit Los Angeles on Thursday night.Ducks: Visit Nashville on Thursday night.— In the short term, the Edmonton Oilers must tighten up a porous penalty-killing unit. In the long term, they want to remind opponents that Rogers Place is a tough barn in which to play.Edmonton seeks a split of a two-game homestand Thursday night when it faces the high-scoring Chicago Blackhawks for the second time this week.The Oilers’ three-game winning streak ended with Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. Edmonton gave up three power-play goals in as many chances and has surrendered six man-advantage goals in 14 opportunities over the last three contests.Article continues below ...“Let’s hope it’s an anomaly,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said Wednesday. “We won’t know until we play a few more games, but (the) penalty kill’s been leaking a little bit lately.”Chicago is 2 for 18 with the man advantage on the road this season.Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot (5-4-1, 2.81 goals-against average) shouldered the blame for the loss.“Penalty kill starts with the goalie. He’s got to be your best killer,” he said.While Edmonton has won four of six on the road in 2018-19 — and begins a four-game swing Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings — the club looks to improve on a 2-2-1 home record.“All the games at home have to be difficult. It doesn’t matter when we play them or we add emphasis to it,” McLellan said. “With Chicago, they’re a different type of team that present different problems. We’ll prepare , but we plan on making it difficult for every team coming in here.”Last Sunday, the Oilers erased an early deficit and defeated the Blackhawks 2-1 at the United Center on Connor McDavid’s goal 53 seconds into overtime. Chicago is tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for most goals this season (43) after finishing tied for 21st in 2017-18 with 228.“We played them pretty tough on the road. We’re going to need to bring that road game home and play another good game against them here,” Talbot said.Chicago (6-4-3) has a quick turnaround after surrendering two third-period goals en route to its season-high third straight loss, 4-2 to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.“I thought we were pretty good for 35 minutes there,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the team’s official website. “The last five minutes of the second there, we lost a little momentum in the game, but I thought we were playing how we wanted to play, and then tough to watch the third period.”Chicago was without Patrick Kane (illness), and his availability to face Edmonton is not immediately known. Kane and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins are tied for most goals in the league with 11.Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is on the cusp of a milestone. After scoring against the Canucks , he needs one goal to become the sixth player in Original Six franchise’s history with 300 goals.Toews has 10 career goals in Edmonton, but hasn’t scored in five straight contests there dating back to November 2014.Chicago, which has surrendered 13 goals during its skid, is 0-1-2 in the second of back-to-back games this season.Corey Crawford made 24 saves Wednesday, but is still rounding into form after missing nearly a calendar year because of a concussion and may not play on consecutive nights.Cam Ward made 24 saves in the loss to the Oilers earlier in the week and is 2-3-2 with a 3.15 goals-against average, while Crawford is 4-2-0 with a 2.79 GAA during their respective careers playing in Edmonton.McDavid has goals in five straight games for the Oilers, matching the longest streak of his career set last March 22-29. But the two-time Art Ross Trophy winner has failed to score a goal in three career home games against the Hawks.