Road Ahead Looks Perilous for Ducks

The Mighty Ducks probably won’t get Paul Kariya back this season. They lost their fans a long time ago.

And any realistic hopes of returning to the playoffs almost certainly slipped away when their losing streak reached six games after a 3-1 loss Wednesday to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So what’s left to play for other than ensuring Teemu Selanne tops the 50-goal mark for the second consecutive season and gets a crack at winning his first most valuable player award?

Apparently not much.

“This is the biggest slap in the face and it really forces you to look at players and reevaluate everything,” Coach Pierre Page said.

The Ducks, 10 points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the eighth and final playoff spot, played without the urgency of a postseason contender.

They were good in spurts, particularly in the first and third periods, but there’s little to indicate they will soon end their slide.

Selanne scored his NHL-leading 43rd goal in the first period, briefly exciting the alleged sellout of 17,174 at the Arrowhead Pond. But the Ducks’ poor start in the first 1:37 of the second proved costly.

First, Toronto captain Mats Sundin scored 16 seconds into the period. Then, left wing Derek King put the Maple Leafs into the lead at 1:37. Sundin added an empty-net goal with five seconds left in the game.

The Ducks are 2-8 and have fallen to within percentage points of last place in the Pacific Division since Kariya suffered a concussion when he was cross-checked in the jaw Feb. 1 by Chicago Blackhawk defenseman Gary Suter.

Next: the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars on Friday and the Pacific Division-leading Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.

Losses to those Stanley Cup contenders would extend the Ducks’ losing streak to eight, which would tie the franchise record set in October, 1996.

The schedule gets more difficult starting next week, when the Ducks begin a seven-game trip to play New Jersey, Philadelphia, Montreal, Ottawa, Chicago, Detroit and Colorado.

“Right now, I can’t call this my most frustrating year,” Page said. “There were more frustrating years in Quebec. It’s a different situation here [because of Kariya’s injury and 32-game contract dispute]. If you think you could win the Stanley Cup with last year’s lineup, then you probably are really disappointed.”

Page then took a reporter’s notebook and wrote down last season’s lineup, then crossed off injured players such as Kariya and those who are no longer on the team.

“Take this guy out, this guy out, and this guy [Kariya] really didn’t play the first half of the season. Now, can this team win the Stanley Cup?” Page asked. “[Management] probably thought things were just rosy at the end of last year. When you do really well and you think you’re just around the corner, well, you’re in for a surprise. You’ve got to get a lot better and a lot smarter. It’s nonstop action.

“You have to have a continuous plan.”

Asked if the Ducks have a blueprint for the future, Page said, “I think the vision here was to. . . .”

Thirty seconds of silence followed.

Meanwhile back in the front office, it was status quo. Another day passed with the Ducks failing to make a move to bolster their injury-riddled roster.

Word around the league is that the Maple Leafs are interested in trading defenseman Mathieu Schneider.

The Ducks could use a player of Schneider’s talents. But if this was his audition for General Manager Jack Ferreira, it went badly.

Schneider, who gave Kariya a concussion with a wild elbow to the head in a Nov. 13, 1996, game at the Pond, got two minutes for interference on Selanne in the first period. Two for slashing early in the second and two more for holding a Duck’s stick later in the period.

Selanne gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 14:44 of the first period, but the Ducks’ good fortune wouldn’t last.

In fact, they learned right wing Scott Young suffered a corneal scratch when he was high-sticked late in Monday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Kings. He is not expected to join the team for the one-game trip to Dallas.