If Wednesday night is any indication, a potential playoff matchup between the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers will be awfully fun. Nick Cousins and Sam Gagner both scored in the shootout and the Flyers — the league's worst shootout team since 2005 — earned a 2-1 victory against the league's best team. Flyers goalie Steve Mason first stopped T.J. Oshie to open the shootout before robbing Evgeny Kuznetsov with his glove after Cousins' goal. That set up Gagner's winner, a wrist shot past Washington goalie Braden Holtby. The Capitals failed to convert on an overtime power play, opening the door for the Flyers to earn a crucial second point. Senators 2, Jets 1 Ottawa Senators right-winger Alex Chiasson scored midway through the third period to lift his team to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Left-winger Ryan Dzingel passed the puck to the front of the net, and it bounced off Jets center Mark Scheifele's skate and went right to Chiasson, who beat goalie Michael Hutchinson at 8:51 for his eighth goal of the season. Scheifele had evened the score with his 26th goal of the season just over two minutes earlier. Right-winger Blake Wheeler carried the puck into the Senators zone, slammed on the brakes and then found his linemate streaking to the net. Ottawa center Zach Smith scored his career-high 22nd goal of the season early in the first period. Ducks 8, Flames 3 Jakob Silfverberg scored two goals, Corey Perry added his 32nd goal and Ryan Kesler contributed a goal and three assists as Anaheim routed Calgary. Brandon Pirri, Jamie McGinn, Shea Theodore and Nate Thompson also scored for the Ducks, who used their third consecutive victory to move into first place in the Pacific Division by one point over the idle Los Angeles Kings. Hunter Shinkaruk, Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie scored for the Flames, who sustained their fifth loss in seven games. Canadian clubs shut out Canada's hockey humiliation was complete Wednesday as the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from NHL playoff contention, leaving the post-season without a Canadian club for just the second time. With 11 days left in the regular season, the Senators were the last team carrying Canada's banner. They did what they could, beating Winnipeg 2-1, but the Philadelphia Flyers' 2-1 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals officially eliminated the Senators. The only other time no Canadian team made the Stanley Cup playoffs was in the 1969-70 season. That season, the NHL was a 12-team, two-division league and the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, Canada's only two clubs, failed to advance. By 1978-79, the NHL had merged with the World Hockey Association and number of Canadian NHL clubs rose to six teams. Now there are seven — and all will be idle come playoff time. Last season, five Canadian teams made the post-season. Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton are bringing up the rear of the Western Conference, while Toronto are in last place in the East.
