ANAHEIM, Calif. - Just hours after the Anaheim Ducks showed captain Ryan Getzlaf how much they need him, their captain returned the favour.
Getzlaf got his 500th NHL point with an assist on Bobby Ryan's goal and then scored one himself. Daniel Winnik ended an 18-game goal drought on the first shot of the game and Viktor Fasth posted his second career shutout for the Ducks with 29 saves in a 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Friday night.
Ryan and defenceman Sheldon Souray scored less than 2 1-2 minutes apart in the second period, helping extend Anaheim's home winning streak to 10 games 鈥� one shy of the franchise record set in 2009-10.
Ryan, shaken up during the opening period when he slid into the end boards unchecked behind the Calgary net, made it 2-0 at 13:38 of the second. Corey Perry set up the goal from behind the net after getting the puck from Getzlaf, who signed an eight-year, $66 million contract extension.
"He's synonymous with Anaheim," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And to get a big number one centre locked up for eight years, which is so hard to do in the NHL 鈥� let alone one as talented as he is 鈥� is something that our ownership and (general manager) Bob Murray did a fabulous job with."
The loss was Calgary's 16th straight at Honda Center. The Flames haven't won in Anaheim since Jan. 19, 2004, and have only one regulation victory over the Ducks on the road in 25 tries since the start of the 1999-2000 season.
The Ducks, leading the league in power-play conversion percentage, matched up against a Calgary squad averaging the second-fewest penalty minutes behind Nashville. The Flames went the entire game without a penalty, the first time this season they weren't short-handed. But Getzlaf scored his 10th goal late in the third on a delayed penalty that would have been called against Mark Giordano for upending Perry.
Anaheim improved the NHL's second-best record to 17-3-3. The Ducks climbed within eight points of the Chicago Blackhawks, whose league-record streak of 24 games without a regulation loss at the start of a season ended Friday with a 6-2 loss at Colorado.
Miikka Kiprusoff, who returned to the nets on Wednesday night after missing 13 games with a sprained knee and beat San Jose 4-1 for his 300th victory in a Flames uniform, stopped 20 shots.
Winnik was right in front of the crease when he one-timed a pass from behind the net from Andrew Cogliano 75 seconds after the opening faceoff. It was his first goal since Jan. 26.
"It was a big relief," Winnik said. "As a line, we've been playing well and I've gotten some chances lately. For whatever reason, it wasn't going into the net. So I was happy to get that one tonight."
The Flames had scored in the opening period in each of their previous seven games, and outshot the Ducks 10-4 through the first 20 minutes. But Fasth (10-1-1) stopped Michal Cammalleri's point-blank wrist shot from 20 feet, and Roman Cervenka redirected Jiri Hudler's pass directly into the goalie's midsection from the slot.
"We didn't start the game the way we wanted to, but our goalie played unbelievable in the first period to give us even a chance," Getzlaf said. "To come out ahead 1-0 after that period, we were pretty thankful for that."
Boudreau agreed that the goaltending made the difference. Fasth improved to 5-0-0 at home, including a 0.98 goals-against average and .960 save percentage.
"That team was ready to play, and we knew they were going to come out hard," Boudreau said. "We talked about the first period being their beat period, so we knew we were going to have our hands full if we didn't come out ready.
"That's what good goaltending will do for you. But Viktor doesn't have to prove anything to me. I know he's a really good goalie."
It was more of the same in the second period for the frustrated Flames. Cammalleri was robbed when Fasth did the splits and made a spread-eagle save with his left foot. Curtis Glencross was then denied by Fasth on a tricky backhander from in close.
"The first half of the game we were down by one, but we had some great scoring chances and our guys were ready to play," Flames captain Jarome Iginla said. "Unfortunately they got one right out of the gate, but I thought we carried most of the play for the first half of the game. Once they got their second goal, it totally changed the momentum and they took control."
Souray, who got 35 stitches in his face after getting cut by a stake in the first period, scored Anaheim's third goal on a long slap shot.
NOTES: Getzlaf is the second player to score his first 500 NHL points in a Ducks uniform, joining Paul Kariya (669). ... The Ducks haven't lost at Honda Center since their home opener, when Vancouver beat them 5-0. They can equal their longest home winning streak if they beat St. Louis on Sunday. The Blues have lost five straight in Anaheim and nine of their last 10 here. ... The Ducks, who beat Phoenix 2-0 Wednesday night behind Jonas Hiller's 18 saves, have recorded consecutive shutouts in the regular season for the fifth time in club history and first time since 2001. ... Anaheim's Teemu Selanne is two points behind Bryan Trottier's total of 1,425 for 15th place on the career list. Iginla's next goal will tie Trottier for 32nd place all-time at 524. ... The Flames will remain in Southern California for back-to-back games against the Stanley Cup champion Kings on Saturday and Monday nights.
