Tom Wilson, Capitals hand Ducks their 8th straight loss

ANAHEIM — The Ducks watched the Washington Capitals grind out a victory against the Kings on Wednesday but struggled with the friction of their forecheck just the same Thursday night, slipping 5-4 at Honda Center in their eighth straight regulation defeat.

Last season, the Ducks had the lowest point total in the NHL, but they didn’t produce a slump this severe until the end of the season when they lost nine straight in regulation as part of a 13-game winless streak to conclude the campaign.

Rookie Tristan Luneau and former Capital Brett Leason contributed a goal apiece and both assisted on Brock McGinn’s goal for the Ducks, who had won eight of 10 games before the losing streak started. Frank Vatrano also scored and John Gibson made 21 saves. The Ducks scored two third-period goals and killed a five-on-three penalty, but also surrendered a power-play goal after taking five minor penalties, four of which led to playing shorthanded in the closing frame.

Tom Wilson produced his first career hat trick in his 700th game, and Anthony Mantha and Nic Dowd also scored for Washington. Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson each had two power-play assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots.

The Ducks carried a number of bellwethers once again in terms of faceoffs, possession and some territorial battles, but penalties and turnovers did them in once again.

“We took four penalties, five if you count (Radko) Gudas’, in the third period. It’s absurd. Two nights ago we take one at the end of the game when we’re pressing,” said Coach Greg Cronin, who like Leason was critical of the team’s puck management, too.

“I told them afterwards, I don’t know what else to say to you. We keep doing it. It’s called insanity,” he added.

In the opening 20 minutes, the Ducks trailed, led and then trailed again during a six-goal flurry.

Many fans were still traversing the temporarily circuitous route from the parking lot to the arena when the two sides traded unassisted goals in the second minute of the match.

Just 87 seconds in, Mantha collected his second goal and third point in two games, after Pavel Mintyukov succumbed to forecheck pressure. Mantha took the puck off his stick and pranced across the entire crease for a backhand goal.

The Ducks recouped that goal 22 seconds later off of their own version of football’s “pick six,” when Evgeny Kuznetsov mishandled a pass in the center of his own zone. Luneau was so open that he had time to launch one menacing shot and then turn his threat into a promise with a second.

“He was terrific. You can see how dynamic he is offensively and how confident he is with the puck,” Cronin said of Luneau. “He’s a 19-year-old kid and he’s just getting better and better every game.”

The Ducks sprang from the first goal of Luneau’s career to one of the sweetest setups to date for another rookie, No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson. He did his best Mario Lemieux impression, skating through all three zones and using his reach to deke two defenders en route to the net, where he created a rebound for Leason’s go-ahead goal 7:51 into the game.

All that youthful joy proved fleeting when the Caps scored three unanswered goals at 15:54, 18:39 and 18:59.

Wilson’s first goal saw him exit the penalty box following an unsuccessful Ducks power play and pounce on the puck just as it arrived to Mason McTavish. Wilson darted off for a breakaway goal.

Then, during a Capitals power play, perhaps the most lethal shot in league history, that of Ovechkin, was launched from his favorite spot, the left faceoff circle. Gudas, who missed Tuesday’s game against Vancouver with a knee injury, dropped down to block the shot with his leg. His effort went for naught when the puck caromed to Wilson, who scored easily from the doorstep, leaving Gudas visibly deflated.

Washington extended its lead with pressure up the wall and Dowd’s tip of Rasmus Sundin’s shot from the point.

The second period saw the Ducks control possession stats but they’d draw no nearer on the scoreboard, until the back end of the final frame.

With 8:15 to play in the game, the Ducks infused energy into the building with a goal. Leason stuck with the play to send a shot fluttering toward the net for McGinn to deflect, which halved the Ducks’ deficit after they’d killed a two-man disadvantage.

Yet Washington delivered the kiss of death in the form of Wilson’s hat trick goal, another power-play marker that came after at least four whacks at the puck from point-blank range.

The Ducks clawed back a goal with 27 seconds remaining when Vatrano crashed the net to stuff a rebound past Kuemper, but it was little more than a flourish at the finish of an effort that fell flat.

“You can’t expect to win games, I don’t care if it’s 2-1 or 5-4, taking the number of penalties we take at the time of the game we take them,” Cronin said.

Trevor Zegras missed his 11th consecutive game for the Ducks.