Even after a tremendous late-season surge capped

ANAHEIM Adidas Gabriel Gagne Jersey , Calif. (AP) by seven straight home victories, the Anaheim Ducks‘ playoff position won’t be determined until the final day of the regular season.The Ducks are grateful to be pushed, and they plan to keep shoving deep into the NHL postseason.Jakob Silfverberg had a goal and two assists, and the Ducks maintained their late-season charge with their ninth win in 11 games overall, 5-3 over the Dallas Stars on Friday night.Josh Manson and Andrew Cogliano each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who leapfrogged the Los Angeles Kings by one point for third place in the Pacific Division. The playoff-bound rivals have been trading the spot down the stretch, and the race will go down to the final game – with second place also in play for Anaheim.”It’s been a long season, but we still want to take that next step,” Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin said.Anaheim clinched its sixth consecutive playoff berth Wednesday, but it can’t let up heading into its finale at Arizona on Saturday night. The Ducks and the Coyotes will begin about 90 minutes before the Kings host the Stars.What’s more, if the Ducks win and the San Jose Sharks lose in regulation to Minnesota later in the night, Anaheim will jump into second, earning home ice for at least one round.Anaheim’s streak of five consecutive Pacific Division titles is ending, but bigger banners are still available to a team hitting its stride.”The whole team is building that confidence, and we’re playing the right way,” Silfverberg said. ”We just need to make sure we have a strong finish tomorrow and see who we get.”Rickard Rakell and Derek Grant also scored before Cogliano got a key breakaway goal with 5:25 to play for the Ducks Adidas Mikkel Boedker Jersey , who have lost in regulation at home just once in 17 games since Jan. 23.Ryan Miller made 23 saves to win his second straight start in place of John Gibson. Miller also earned the 369th victory of his NHL career, tying Tom Barrasso for second among U.S.-born goaltenders.Jamie Benn scored his 33rd goal and added an assist for the Stars, who aren’t going out quietly in their disappointing season. After beating playoff-bound Minnesota and San Jose in their previous two games, the Stars gave a scare to the Ducks before taking their 10th loss in 13 games.”(The Ducks) looked like a team that’s getting ready for the playoffs,” Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. ”We looked like a team that still was trying, but they had details in our game that we didn’t have, and that part, I’m sure, is disappointing for everybody.”Mike McKenna stopped 28 shots in his second appearance of the season for Dallas and the 34-year-old veteran’s 25th NHL appearance of his lengthy hockey career. McKenna, who got a win over San Jose in relief on Tuesday, has been the third goalie most of the season for the Stars, who are his fifth NHL team and 15th professional team.”I allowed five goals, so I’m disappointed we didn’t win the game more than anything,” said McKenna, who will head back to the AHL next week for the Texas Stars’ playoff push. ”There’s room for improvement. Go back, look at video and try to get better again. Doesn’t change anything for me that there’s not more time left here. There’s more time left in the season.”Marc Methot got his first goal in 35 games this season Adidas James Van Riemsdyk Jersey , and Radek Faksa also scored for Dallas.NOTES: During a first-period break, Honda Center aired a tribute video to Beauchemin, who has said he will retire after this season. Beauchemin, who has played three separate stints in Anaheim during his career, acknowledged his standing ovation with a wave. ”I knew it was coming … (but) I still had some problems keeping it together because of all the great memories.” … Ducks D Cam Fowler missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury that could sideline him deep into the playoffs. Gibson also missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury, but it isn’t thought to be serious. … Rakell’s 33rd goal of the season matched his career high and also ended Anaheim’s 0-for-10 power play drought.UP NEXTStars: At Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.Ducks: At Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.— Nowhere is Connor McDavid more comfortable than on his skates.The sight of McDavid blowing past defenders is an almost every-game occurrence for the Edmonton Oilers captain whose speed is the envy of the NHL. McDavid’s crossover moves that propelled him a league-high 108 points came from years of cruising around on rollerblades.“Even when I wasn’t on the ice, I was always on my rollerblades,” McDavid said. “It’s what’s kind of got me here. I love training that way. It’s kind of just by yourself. There’s no fancy skill coach, there’s no nothing. It’s just on your rollerblades and working on some skills.”That work has paid off for McDavid, the near-unanimous choice as the fastest skater in hockey. His peers are in awe of the 21-year-old’s quick first step, even quicker second step and shake-your-head acceleration.“The way he skates, it’s something impossible, right?” Washington center Evgeny Kuznetsov asked.“He glides faster than a lot of us skate,” Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele said.“I don’t know how he does it,” Dallas captain Jamie Benn said.McDavid credits roller hockey games against his dad and brother for refining his 1-on-1 skills. Growing up in Newmarket outside Toronto, McDavid was seen as hockey’s next generational star at age 14 but he didn’t spend so much time on the ice that he forgot his rollerblading roots.“The classic ‘Mighty Ducks Adidas Christian Folin Jersey ,'” he said. “Put the garbage can there and just go out and play.”Some of the best in the league think long and hard about how to force McDavid to go the way they want him to go and toe the line between giving him too much space. There isn’t a simple way to stop McDavid because no one can keep up with him.“There’s not a lot of times where he toe-drags you or he over-under-arounds you kind of thing, where he turns you inside out,” Ducks defenseman Josh Manson said. “He just kind of puts it by you and his speed takes him and he makes you miss. Then he’s around you and he’s going in on the goalie and he’s probably going to score.”After his 41 goals were sixth-most in the league, McDavid said over the summer he will try to score more this season. Former Oilers teammate and 2018 MVP Taylor Hall thinks McDavid could do it.“When everyone thinks that he’s at his peak, he just keeps getting better and better, whether it’s goal-scoring or leadership — whatever it is,” the Devils’ leading scorer said. “Everyone thinks that, ‘OK he’s got 108 points, he’s going to get around that next year.’ There’s a good chance that he gets 115 or 120 and I wouldn’t be surprised. Just with the sublime skill that he has and the athleticism is just out of control.”McDavid’s athleticism is different than Sidney Crosby’s because the Penguins captain derives his skating stride from lower-body strength. McDavid has quicker feet and the stick work to match.“When he gets the puck on his stick, his hands move as fast as his feet and it just looks so easy for him,” Kings forward Tyler Toffoli said. “The way he crosses over and gains so much speed on guys and he’s able to beat a whole team by crossing over and making one move, it’s incredible to watch.”McDavid won the fastest skater competition at All-Star Weekend the past two years. Even speedy contemporaries like Hall and Nathan MacKinnon consider him the standard.But to McDavid, there’s still another gear he can get to with his speed.“There’s always ways to improve,” McDavid said. “Guys that have the best shot in the world still shoot pucks, and that’s for a reason. You keep growing your game and finding different ways to produce. I definitely still work on my skating a lot.”