Four things we learned in NHL: Blackhawks faltering in D.C.

Frederik Andersen made a season-high 47 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Calgary Flames 2-1.

The Toronto Maple Leafs kept up their stellar home form against the Calgary Flames, the Chicago Blackhawks still can’t win in D.C., plus Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are proving to be one of the league’s dynamic duos.

Here are four things we learned in the NHL on Wednesday night.

Leafs still dominant at home vs. Flames

There seems to be one certainty in the NHL over the past two decades, and that is the Maple Leafs beating the Flames in Toronto.

Toronto’s 2-1 shootout victory over Calgary was its 22nd home win in 26 meetings against Calgary since 1993. The Leafs’ overall record now stands at 22-2-2.

The Leafs also swept the season series with Calgary and have won four of their last five games against the Flames.

The Blackhawks just can’t handle D.C.

It will be 12 years since the Chicago Blackhawks last won a game in Washington D.C.

The Blackhawks were humbled 6-2 by the Capitals at the Capital One Arena, extending their winless run to seven games in the U.S. capital.

In fact, Chicago has struggled mightily against Washington. The Blackhawks only have one win in their previous eight meetings with the Capitals, and have been outscored 31-10 in that span.

The Draisaitl-McDavid Connection

The Edmonton Oilers have been inconsistent thus far in the 2017-18 campaign, but one constant throughout the season has been the performance of two of their elite forwards.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl connected for the team’s opening goal against the Philadelphia Flyers for the 51st time since last season. That is the third-highest number in the NHL.

Unfortunately for Edmonton, it came up short and lost 4-2 to the Flyers at Rogers Place. The Oilers will meet two Canadian counterparts in their next two meetings as the Canadiens and Maple Leafs are up next on the docket.

The Senators’ slide continues

Make that nine losses in 10 games for the Ottawa Senators.

The Sens were shut out 3-0 by the Anaheim Ducks. It’s the third time in eight games that the Senators have failed to score as well.

Head coach Guy Boucher made a few changes for Wednesday’s tilt. Fredrik Claesson was scratched, Mark Stone and Ben Harpur played, but the end result was all too similar for the struggling Senators.

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