Emptiness Grows Without Selanne

The end isn’t near for the Mighty Ducks. It’s already here.

The signs were evident all around the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim on Friday night, starting with Teemu Selanne’s departure after the pregame warmup and his failure to reappear for the opening faceoff.

The Ducks were no match for the San Jose Sharks without injured forwards Selanne, Paul Kariya and Travis Green and lost, 3-0, before an announced sellout of 17,174.

Tony Granato and Dave Lowry scored first-period goals less than three minutes apart and Jeff Friesen added a third-period goal for the Sharks.

The Ducks were shut out for the second consecutive game and the 10th time this season as their swoon from playoff contention continued Friday.

They trail the Edmonton Oilers by seven points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and have 21 games in which to make up the ground.

But a stretch-run rally appears to be wishful thinking without Selanne, Kariya and Green healthy and in the lineup. After all, the Ducks dropped to 1-4 while playing without their top three forwards.

The Ducks hoped to be buoyed by the return of Selanne from a four-game absence because of strained abdominal muscles. Things looked good after the morning skate, but it was decided he shouldn’t play after he participated in the pregame warmup.

There was nothing to indicate a problem. Selanne moved in seemingly effortless fashion around the ice during the 20-minute warmup period, but he didn’t feel fit enough to play.

“He was hoping he would feel better tonight than he did,” Ducks’ Coach Pierre Page said. “I think it was a little fear that he wasn’t quite ready to get back in there. He didn’t want to re-aggravate it.”

Selanne will take another crack at it Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Green, sidelined by a groin injury, has yet to practice with teammates and his status for Sunday is uncertain.

Kariya continues to suffer from headaches and dizziness related to post-concussion syndrome after Chicago’s Gary Suter injured him with a cross check to the jaw Feb. 1.

Suter hasn’t spoken directly to Kariya, but they have been communicating through Don Baizley--the Winnipeg-based agent for both.

“I’ve talked to both of them and passed along how each other feels,” said Baizley, whose clients also include Selanne. “Gary has made a point of saying how bad he feels about Paul’s injury. Obviously, people recognize it wasn’t a clean check. That’s over now. It can’t be rewinded.”

Kariya has been troubled by headaches and dizziness for five weeks. The Duck medical staff wants him to be free of those symptoms for at least that long before clearing him to play again. Under the best-case scenario that would leave Kariya with only two weeks left to play in the season.

The Ducks seemed to measure up with the Sharks in every regard except for one. They simply were no match offensively.

They kept pace with the hitting. Guy Hebert, starting in goal for the first time in four games, made as many quality saves as San Jose’s Mike Vernon. And the Ducks seemed to be just as fast on their skates as the Sharks.

But the Ducks had no way to counter San Jose’s offense.

They have been outscored, 16-8, in the five games without their wounded forwards and have dropped to 22nd offensively in the 26-team NHL.

Vernon’s shutout was the Sharks’ sixth this season, a franchise record. And it extended the Ducks’ scoreless streak to 128 minutes 1 second.