Fragile Ducks fall to Islanders, 5-2

After again committing so many inexplicable mistakes, after again experiencing so many mental lapses, the Ducks looked like a team that expects misfortune at every turn. And because they expect the worst they often create it, and get it.

Their 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday night at Barclays Center was a prime example of how fragile they’ve become. They scored the first goal but gave up three in the first period, two of them in the last minute. After cutting the Islanders’ lead to 3-2 in the second period they soon fell back into a two-goal hole and from there played like a team that expects bad things to happen.

“It’s hard to say otherwise,” Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf said. “When you get that mental thing going where you give up a goal, you feel like you’re not going to score another one. We’re having a tough time scoring goals and that’s an effect of not being able to get that swagger, that confidence that you need.

“But we’ve got to find a way to do it on a consistent basis because we’ve shown signs of it playing good hockey teams, where we’ve competed all night long and the next night for whatever reason, we can’t show up to play.”

The nights they don’t show up decisively outnumber the nights they perform respectably. The Ducks (12-15-5) have scored a league-low 60 goals, putting stifling pressure on their goaltenders to be perfect because one goal against might be too many. According to Coach Bruce Boudreau, starter Frederik Andersen didn’t handle that pressure well Monday.

“I thought the first two goals were pretty soft, quite frankly,” said Boudreau, who replaced Andersen with John Gibson to start the second period.

Boudreau, admittedly disheartened because he had hoped a 2-1 victory at New Jersey on Saturday might be the catalyst for a turnaround, said players on the bench talked about coming back Monday. But it turned out to be only talk, not action.

“I do think when goals go in on them, they know they haven’t been scoring and it’s tough to score,” he said. “It makes it a little more difficult.”

The Ducks took the lead at 6:52 of the first period, when Carl Hagelin converted the rebound of a shot he had taken from a sharp angle. But the Islanders, who had scored only two goals in losing their previous three games, blew past them on goals by Cal Clutterbuck — who too easily eluded the ineffective Kevin Bieksa — by Travis Hamonic through a screen, and by Brock Nelson off a fine setup from John Tavares.

“We had a mental lapse there for about a minute and a half to finish that period,” Getzlaf said. “We weren’t prepared to do what it took. We started turning pucks over a little bit, not getting them all the way deep, and it cost us in the long run.”

The Ducks closed within a goal in the third period, but not for long. A shot by Sami Vatanen caromed out to Josh Manson, who gloved the puck down before shooting from the right circle and scoring at 7:32, but Josh Bailey restored the Islanders’ two-goal lead with a goal from the slot at 9:37.

An empty-net goal by Matt Martin reinforced the inevitable with 2:33 left in the third period, but the Ducks’ hopes had vanished long before that.

Although they’re still within reasonable reach of third in the Pacific Division and an automatic playoff spot, the Ducks can’t continue to play like this and expect to gain ground.

“We’ve got to figure it out,” Hagelin said. “It starts in the locker room. Everyone just has to play better. We have a lot of great players in there. We just need to come to a game and all 22 guys or all 20 guys need to play at their best. That’s what it comes down to.”

For better or for worse, and lately it has been for worse.

UP NEXT

DUCKS AT NEW YORK RANGERS

When: Tuesday, 4 p.m. PST.

On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 830.

Update: The Ducks are 1-2 on a trip that ends Tuesday. This will be Hagelin’s first game against the Rangers since they traded him to Anaheim last summer in a deal that sent winger Emerson Etem to New York. “Right now it’s nothing I really think about,” Hagelin said Monday. “Once I get there it will be a different story.” The Rangers have lost three straight games and eight of their last 10 (2-6-2). They’ve given up 31 goals in their last six games.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen