Ducks return to winning ways, 5-2

Plenty of scoring and lots of fighting. The Ducks were back to doing what they do best.

After watching their five-game winning streak go by the wayside in a mistake-filled shootout loss to Columbus, the Ducks beat on the lowly Chicago Blackhawks from start to finish in a 5-2 victory Friday night at the Honda Center.

It was a night of achievements for the Ducks (43-17-12), who tied their franchise record for victories and matched their high-water mark of 98 points set last season. Now within one point of Detroit for the top seeding in the Western Conference, they also stayed seven points ahead of second-place San Jose in the Pacific Division.

“Tonight, we knew we needed some points,” Ducks forward Chris Kunitz said. “We’re trying to catch [Detroit] for first place overall and we had to come out playing hard. It was good to get the offense rolling and make it easier on the guys.”

Teemu Selanne’s two goals gave him 535 for his career as he moved past Frank Mahovlich into 26th place on the NHL all-time list. Scott Niedermayer had three assists for the second consecutive game to surpass the 600-point milestone.

Already with six wins and a shootout loss on this extended run at home, the Ducks can close out one of the best homestands in their 14-year history with a victory Sunday over the Kings.

“We knew against Columbus, we let a point slip away on us,” winger Travis Moen said. “Our focus was to play a solid game and do the things we do to get two points.”

Selanne’s two goals wrapped around a goal by Corey Perry in the first period got the Ducks started. Now with 43 goals to rank second in the league behind Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier, Selanne has his most goals since posting an NHL-best 47 with the Ducks in 1998-99.

Andy McDonald matched his linemate with two more goals for the second time in three games and added two assists for his second four-point game this season. All the support allowed backup goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to focus on sharpening his game; he made 31 saves.

The Ducks, who have recorded a point in each of their last 10 games, got all their offense in the first two periods, when they took a 5-0 lead.

The teams combined for three fights, three game misconducts and 123 penalty minutes in all.

“It was just one of those games where the aggressiveness was displayed throughout the lineup,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “You have to stand up for your teammates and if you feel they are getting taken advantage of, it’s always a positive response when people do that.”

About the only blemish was Kunitz’s getting ejected late in the second for instigating a fight with Chicago’s Tuomo Ruutu after Ruutu flattened McDonald with a high stick. Rene Bourque broke the shutout with a goal on the five-minute power play.

But then, in the Ducks’ view, sticking up for a teammate isn’t a bad thing.

“You have to look out for your linemates and teammates,” Kunitz said. “I think they put a couple of high hits on him. He’s a big part of our team and you’ve got to protect him and make sure nothing doesn’t happen.”

Several Blackhawks took runs at McDonald.

“I don’t have a problem with the body contact,” he said. “A couple of the hits were kind of high. Certainly, I’ve had a history with concussions and I’m going to take exception to that when guys try to go at the head.

“I wasn’t wearing a visor, I probably would have been cut pretty bad. There was a clear scrape all the way down the visor and [Ruutu] gets a two-minute penalty.”

eric.stephens@latimes.com