Ducks Mighty Tired in 4-1 Loss to Stars : Hockey: Wilson plays seven rookies, but team can manage only 23 shots against Dallas.

All those fresh faces in the Mighty Duck lineup can’t change everything.

Especially when they don’t have fresh legs.

The Ducks are an improving team, but they still have the ability to be dull--very dull--and their 4-1 loss to Dallas on Wednesday night looked a lot more like last season than any game so far.

Exhaustion might be part of it--as it is going to be occasionally for every team during this shortened season. The Ducks were playing their fourth game in six days after a quick, grueling trip to western Canada and an emotionally exhausting home opener.

The excitement of their 5-4 come-from-behind overtime victory over Edmonton on Monday wasn’t much in evidence at The Pond before 17,174. The Ducks managed a mere five shots in the first period and only six in the third as they tried to come back, failing on two power-play opportunities in the final period. They finished with 23 shots.

“We certainly looked tired, but you’ve got to give them credit,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “They checked the heck out of us and shut us down in the neutral zone. We just didn’t have the energy or the persistence to fight through it.”

Peter Douris, who had the Ducks’ only goal, a disputed one, said “it kind of felt like the first part of the first period we were skating through mortar. After were down a goal or two, it was tough to come back.”

Rookie Paul Kariya created more scoring chances than the Ducks used to see in a game, but they couldn’t capitalize, and the Stars made the final margin three on Brent Gilchrist’s empty-netter with 38 seconds left after the Ducks pulled goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov for an extra attacker.

Dallas goalie Darcy Wakaluk, making his first start of the season, was outstanding, making 22 saves and foiling a couple of breakaways.

The Ducks looked tired, and as Wilson noted, there’s reason for any NHL team to--though Dallas had three days off before facing the Kings and Ducks on back-to-back nights.

“At this point, as a coach you can’t whip a dead horse,” Wilson said. “You have to work on certain things and make guys get their rest.”

The Ducks didn’t score until 15:35 of the second period--and it was a questionable goal at that. Shaun Van Allen carried the puck in on a 4-on-2 rush and fed it to Douris by the right post, where Wakaluk made a sliding save on Douris’ first attempt. But the puck popped up, and Douris seemed to bat it toward the net with his glove while still holding his stick. It ended up going in--perhaps off Wakaluk’s upstretched left leg--but should have counted only if Douris knocked it in with part of his stick. Wakaluk complained vociferously, to no avail. Referee Paul Stewart ruled it a goal after a review.

Gilchrist had two goals--the first one shorthanded at 14:05 of the second when he set up at the left post and redirected a pass from Dean Evason. That made the lead 2-0.

Mike Modano, who scored 50 goals for Dallas last season, scored his first of the year when Trent Klatt’s breakout pass sent him out front, where he pulled up short, waited for Shtalenkov to commit, went back to his forehand and scored on a diving effort. That made the score 3-1 at 17:12 of the second.

The Ducks played a somnolent first period: One of their five shots was Bob Corkum’s shorthanded chance at the end of the period. Meanwhile, Dallas took a 1-0 lead after center Todd Harvey, playing his first NHL game, flipped a pass behind him to Dave Gagner while facing the glass, and Gagner put it past Shtalenkov just inside the left post.

There were seven rookies in the Duck lineup and one was the 29-year-old Shtalenkov. He played in Russia until 1992 and helped the Unified team win the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics.

Wilson has almost as much confidence in Shtalenkov as he does in Guy Hebert, and for now, particularly because of the pace of the season and the short conditioning time, he plans to alternate goalies.

If just about everyone is going to be tired, he at least wants a rested player trying to stop the puck.

Duck Notes

Left wing Garry Valk, who sprained his left knee during the team’s mini-camp, is still probably another two weeks from playing, meaning the injury might cost him around 10 games of the 48-game season. His 45 points last season ranked third on the team.