Ducks Show No Firepower

It’s a measure of just how bad the Mighty Ducks have been that a 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday was somehow . . . comforting.

So intent were the Ducks on plugging the gaping holes in their defense that they sat back and forgot to shoot at the other net, tying the club record for fewest shots in a period, with only one in the first, and matching the record for fewest shots in a game with 12.

Ron Hextall made the required 12 saves for Philadelphia to record the 15th shutout of his career, and the first for the Ducks since Chicago’s Jeff Hackett beat them, 3-0, last Jan. 12.

And yet, incredibly, it was progress.

The Ducks--now 1-6-2 with a five-game losing streak--entered the game giving up more goals than any other team in the NHL.

But they managed to hold an opponent to fewer than four goals for only the second time this season, and didn’t give up a short-handed goal for the first time in three games.

And until the final minute of the second period, they trailed only 1-0 in front 18,812 fans in Philadelphia’s CoreStates Center.

“To come in and score two goals and have them score six wouldn’t be the right approach for us,” said Duck Coach Ron Wilson, who spent the morning practice preaching short, safe passes and defense above all else.

“Defensively, we did a very good job as a team limiting their chances. We just made a couple of mistakes around the net and their skill people put the puck away.”

Shjon Podein, Rod Brind’Amour and Eric Desjardins scored for the Flyers, who improved to 5-4 without Eric Lindros, sidelined because of a groin injury. Duck goalie Guy Hebert made 23 saves, giving way to Mikhail Shtalenkov for about two minutes in the third in a stalling tactic by Wilson.

The Ducks are not a team that should be shut out, even without injured star Paul Kariya. In Teemu Selanne and Jari Kurri, the Ducks have two former 70-goal scorers. But Kurri has gone five games without a goal and Selanne has only one goal in the last five after scoring four in the first four games and assisting on six others.

“It boils down to our confidence level being way down,” said left wing Garry Valk, whose breakout pass on a penalty-kill was stolen by Desjardins for the Flyers’ third goal. “One shot in the first period isn’t enough.”

Kurri, the 16-year veteran, said this week that the Ducks must get back to basics. “There isn’t any magic wand or magic trick,” he said.

Management started by calling up rookie defenseman Nikolai Tsulygin and inserting him in the lineup with his former minor league defense partner, Jason Marshall.

“It was a message that our defense hasn’t been playing very well and Nikolai deserved an opportunity,” Wilson said.

The Duck coach set a new strategy before Tuesday’s game: Simplicity and safety.

“It might be ugly, and it might not be successful at first, but eventually it will be successful,” he said.

One way or another, the Ducks have to rebuild their confidence.

“I was using a golf analogy with the team,” Wilson said. “It’s like every time we have a five-foot putt, we’re hoping the other team’s going to say, ‘It’s good,’ and give it to us. We don’t have any confidence from five feet, so we’ve got to sink some one-footers.”