Selanne Still Out, Ducks Go Down

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, in front of 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 fall from playoff contention continued.

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 ground.

But a stretch-run rally appears to be wishful thinking without Selanne, Kariya and Green. 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 he and trainer Greg Smith 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,” 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 playing 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.

The Duck medical staff wants Kariya to be free of the headaches and dizziness that have troubled him for five weeks for at least that long.

Under the best-case scenario that would leave Kariya with only two weeks left to play in the season. It hardly seems worth the risk at this point. The Ducks are sinking fast from playoff contention.

“You never get discouraged if you get the effort,” Page said when asked if it’s difficult not to be discouraged.

The Ducks seemed to measure up with the Sharks in every regard except for one. They simply were no match on offense, particularly without Selanne and Kariya.

“It makes a huge difference,” San Jose Coach Darryl Sutter said of playing the Ducks without Selanne and Kariya. “Arguably, they are the two best players in the league. This year, Selanne probably has been the best. You’re not going to fault the [Ducks’] effort. They played hard.”

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