What we learned from the Ducks’ 5-1 loss to the Penguins

From a bruising, grind-it-out team to a high-end skating outfit built to score. The Ducks ran the gamut of opponents in 48 hours, from the Kings on Tuesday to the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who were as good as advertised in a 5-1 win against the Ducks on Wednesday.

Here’s what we learned:

The Ducks got a lesson on how they want to play

Pittsburgh displayed a transition game that fed off hounding forechecking — exactly the formula for how Anaheim and most other teams want to play. Of course, most teams do not have Pittsburgh’s personnel.

“We were doing ourselves more harm by not getting pucks out quicker,” center Andrew Cogliano said. “We were taking too many pucks back, and they have good forecheckers that stay on you and do a good job of staying relentless. … You almost got to get the puck out as soon as you can. If not, you’re going to spend some time in your own end.”

Possession is nine-tenths of the game

That’s stealing from a phrase about the law, but it applies here. Anaheim has developed part of its identity as a puck-possession team but the Penguins ran a clinic in the second period.

It didn’t help that the Ducks were without injured center Ryan Getzlaf, one of their best faceoff men. Anaheim actually came out ahead, winning 33 of 58 faceoffs, but defenseman Cam Fowler summed it up best: “We made things way too easy on them. At points in the game, it looked like they were running a power play in our own end.”

The Ducks still have a Jekyll-and-Hyde personality

There is a pattern: Anaheim followed up a great win against Nashville with a clunker loss to Columbus last month. This loss followed one of the team’s most complete games so far, a win against the Kings on Tuesday.

Injuries considered, what gives?

“That’s what we just banged our heads against the wall over,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “Why, why, why? The answer to that isn’t at the tip of my tongue. I wish I had that answer for you. I’m sure they don’t feel very good about themselves.

“To have performances like this where we’re a step-and-a-half behind the hockey club that we’re playing, it hurts.”