Salei’s Lapses Are Trouble for Ducks

It wasn’t all Ruslan Salei’s fault. He was merely a symptom.

To be sure, Salei did have to claim his share--and a lion’s share at that--of the unraveling in Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. His gaffes represented a clear and present danger to goalie Guy Hebert.

Salei watched as Detroit’s Brendan Shanahan scored off a rebound for a 1-0 Red Wing lead a minute into the game.

Salei turned the puck over at center ice, with Shanahan picking it up and scoring again . . . 2-0.

Salei was mesmerized while Shanahan danced through the Duck zone like Michelle Kwan, who was in attendance, which led to a Tomas Holmstrom goal . . . 3-0.

All in the first 14 minutes.

Explanations were hard to come by. Salei moved faster for the team bus than he did on any of the three goals.

The Ducks defense was suspect from the start this season. It handled itself well enough to get the team to the playoffs, thanks, in part, to solid forechecking.

The shortcomings are glaring in the playoffs.

“Do we have an all-star defenseman? No,” defenseman Kevin Haller said. “We should have had one in Freddy Olausson. He has been great on the power play.”

True. But not the staunchest defender. And therein lies the problem.

There are pieces here and there. Olausson can score. Haller is experienced. Salei is rugged. Jason Marshall is physical.

The Ducks, though, don’t have all that in one package--a guy who is a clear-cut No. 1 defenseman. One certainly would have helped Friday.

By the time the first period was half over, “Ruslan Salei” seemed to be Russian for “clear path to the net.” The Red Wings didn’t win back-to-back Stanley Cups by blowing 3-0 advantages.

“We had some lapses and made some mistakes in front of the net,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “But give Detroit the credit.”

Still . . .

“We didn’t do much to stop them,” Hartsburg added.

The Red Wings are relentless and can throw one quality line after another onto the ice. The Ducks don’t have the numbers on defense to match. They patch things together with grit.

“We just need to work a little harder,” Marshall said. “We need to believe in ourselves.”

That wasn’t enough when Sergei Fedorov slipped behind the net, drawing Olausson to him. Hebert blocked the wrap-around attempt. Shanahan then pounced on the rebound and scored, with Salei standing next to him.

“It was a costly mistake,” Hartsburg said.

Shanahan struck again nine minutes later. With the Red Wings on the power play, Salei charged up ice only to lose possession near the red line. Shanahan ended up with a clear shot.

Salei wasn’t the only one gawking later, when Shanahan worked his way around four Duck players before Matt Cullen finally knocked the puck off his stick. It went to Holmstrom. Hebert blocked the first shot. No Duck defender was around to clear Holmstrom, who scored off the rebound.

“We need to get a little dirtier and win the battles,” Haller said. “We need to do a little better job moving the puck, especially down below the goal line.”