A Few Favorable Signs, but End Result Is Same

No team has ever won the Stanley Cup in October.

But plenty have lost a chance to play for the NHL’s top prize with a disastrous first month of the season.

Time will tell if the Mighty Ducks’ terrible start will keep them from making the playoffs for the first time in their four-year existence. But the mood in the Duck dressing room after a 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday at the Pond was predictably downcast.

They had their chances, played a good deal better and appeared to benefit greatly from the return of Paul Kariya, who had missed the first 11 games because of an abdominal injury.

Heck, the Ducks even got another goal from Warren Rychel, a beauty of a short-handed score that pulled them even at 2-2 midway through the second period.

But despite all the encouraging signs, the end result was just more of the same.

The Ducks bid good riddance to October with a 1-9-2 record.

What November brings is anyone’s guess.

The Ducks certainly hope better days are ahead, but they also realize they’ve fallen far behind the pace already.

“Thank God this is happening now and not in March or April,” Rychel said. “Let’s get this out of the way now.”

Rychel maintained that the Ducks had improved over Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Calgary. But that was small consolation to a team that’s lost a franchise-record eight in a row.

“There were some great signs tonight, but three hours later here we are again,” Rychel said. “We still have the worst record in the league. It definitely was great to have Paul back for us. He backed up the defense. We’re glad to have him back.

“But look at the end result. We’ve got nothing to show for it.”

When Rychel charged out of the penalty box, pounced on a loose puck and beat the Vancouver defense to the net, it seemed the Ducks’ luck might change for the better.

Defenseman Bobby Dollas, acting captain while Kariya was sidelined, bemoaned the Ducks’ lack of good fortune after Sunday’s loss. This seemed just the sort of play to get the Ducks moving again.

Vancouver goaltender Corey Hirsch stopped Rychel’s first shot, but not the second. Rychel slipped the rebound beneath Hirsch for his first short-handed goal of his career.

In a flash, Rychel energized the Ducks and the crowd of 16,232. Suddenly, it seemed fortunes might turn around.

“We’re looking for almost anything to start to turn it around for us,” Rychel said. “We’re looking for any kind of spark. I thought the . . . short-handed goal [might do it]. When was the last time I scored a short-handed goal?”

Answer: Never in the NHL.

But Trevor Linden’s power-play goal more than four minutes later, broke the tie and any momentum the Ducks’ had seized thanks to Rychel was shot.

Vancouver’s David Roberts scored early in the third period and the Ducks trailed, 4-2.

“Right now, we’ve got a snowball effect going the wrong way,” Rychel said. “There’s no magic wand to get out of it. We’ve got to work harder, pay the price, take the slash instead of giving the slash.

“It’s just competing and playing hard.”