Another Loss Is Mighty Blow for the Ducks

It’s the nature of a playoff race that momentum seems to shift dramatically in a day, only to shift back on another.

The Mighty Ducks watched the pendulum swing away from them during a 3-1 loss to Dallas before 15,989 Thursday at Reunion Arena. Down by one goal in the final minute, they pulled goalie Guy Hebert for an extra attacker and made a last, futile effort to tie and gain an important point in the standings, but the Stars’ Brent Gilchrist scored into the empty net with 2.5 seconds left.

“This is a devastating loss--as any are right now, especially because of what the other teams do while you have a couple of days off,” said Duck Coach Ron Wilson, whose team remained four points behind Winnipeg for the final Western Conference playoff spot but has one less opportunity to make up ground, with the season down to eight games.

By the time the Ducks play their next game Sunday at San Jose, Winnipeg could be six points ahead, or Edmonton might have passed the Ducks for ninth place. The Jets and Oilers play Friday in Edmonton, and the Oilers play Toronto Saturday.

The Jets, trapped in a downward spiral a few days ago, have won their last two games convincingly, beating Dallas and Colorado. The Ducks, whose seven-game unbeaten streak was ended by Detroit on Monday, have lost their last two and this one was more discouraging because Dallas trails them in the standings and has beaten them nine times in a row, dating back two seasons.

“Very disappointing,” the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne said quietly after the game, casting his eyes downward. “We knew how important this game was, but we still have a good chance. If we beat San Jose Sunday, then we have five games at home. If we play well, we’ll make the playoffs. This is going to make our job a little more difficult.”

The Ducks had difficulty scoring Thursday, despite plenty of chances. Dallas goalie Darcy Wakaluk made 28 saves, and the Ducks converted only one of eight power-play opportunities.

Their power play has been dramatically better since the arrival of Selanne and point man Fredrik Olausson, but the Ducks were 0 for 8 over their previous previous two games, and weren’t very successful Thursday despite having a man advantage for a 4 1/2-minute stretch in the first period--including two five-on-threes.

‘You can’t win games with one goal. It’s simple,” defenseman Bobby Dollas said. “We had our chances. We just didn’t bury them. Playoff hockey is point A to point B, a straight line. It’s like we were going zig-zag, dippy-do. I’m sorry, that doesn’t work. We need basic hockey.”

With the score tied, 1-1, in the second, Dallas’ Todd Harvey scored what proved to be the game-winner on a power play at 16:39 when he deflected Darryl Sydor’s shot from in front of the net, popping the puck up and over Hebert’s head and into the net.

Dallas scored the game’s first goal 8:24 into the second with a power-play goal when Brent Fedyk cut to the net and took a perfect cross-ice pass from Mike Modano. Roman Oksiuta tied the score later in the second.

Selanne appeared to have given the Ducks a 1-0 lead in the first, but referee Lance Roberts disallowed the apparent goal because Oksiuta had both skates in the crease.

“I’m not going to argue that he wasn’t in the crease,” Wilson said. “But if you look at most goals, 90% should be called back.”

Selanne shrugged.

“He said he was in the crease. I just thought we’d score more goals. We had great opportunities in the first. We didn’t score in the first period and it just killed us. I don’t know how many scoring chances we need to get three or four goals.”