What we learned from the Ducks’ 7-2 loss to the New York Rangers

It’s best not to make rash decisions at the worst moments.

Sunday night’s 7-2 loss by the Ducks to the defending Eastern Conference champions certainly was fodder for those outside the visitors’ dressing room to make brash pronouncements.

Social media experts were quick to claim the defeat revealed the separation between Anaheim and a team like the Rangers.

And maybe those three goals allowed on seven first-period shots by goalie Frederik Andersen says something about his standing in the competition with teammate John Gibson.

But slow down, the Ducks essentially said after the rout.

They’d won four straight games and 11 of 15 before Sunday, and with eight regular-season games left before the postseason, there was a unanimous feeling that time remains to find a playoff groove.

Blame the team, not the guy

Andersen admitted that on a sharp night he likely would’ve stopped the shots (two deflected and one screened) that got past him Sunday.

Yes, he was pulled less than 11 minutes into the game, but it does not seem to be the defining performance that separates the goalies.

Especially after Gibson saw four of 22 shots get past him.

“I was hoping to change the momentum,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said of the goalie switch.

“I know when push comes to shove he’s a goalie I don’t mind having in the nets. Right now, I would think there’s no clear-cut guy. We’ve got eight more games to … make a decision.”

Boudreau said he’d like to solidify the choice even before that, perhaps by the end of this road trip early next week.

No excuses

The Ducks haven’t turned in a clunker like this in about a month, but center Ryan Getzlaf said he wouldn’t concede to any mitigating factors that might’ve set up the defeat.

“We didn’t keep up,” Getzlaf said. “I can sit here and dissect all of our games … we’ve got to be ready for [Tuesday opponent] Columbus.”

Adjust to the outcome

Defenseman Simon Despres has been part of the recent success, but was surprisingly scratched Sunday.

No one player was going to make a difference in that one, yet building the familiarity with the lines and pairs expected to be used in the playoffs is probably a good idea right now.

Boudreau did reunite center Ryan Kesler and forward Jakob Silfverberg in the third period.

Big plans

After Corey Perry scored his 30th and 31st goals in the first period, the Ducks did little else positive.

Perry maintained the lost effort can be rediscovered quickly. He moved on from the defeat so fast he even mentioned a possible Stanley Cup Final series with the Rangers.

“They’re a heck of a team that can make the finals, and that’s our goal,” Perry said.