Wheels Come Off for Ducks

The tank is empty, the battery is dead, the tires are bald and even the windshield wipers are shot. But the Mighty Ducks still have miles to go before they sleep.

Or one more game to play before completing an exhausting stretch, anyway.

Friday, the Ducks sputtered and wheezed their way to a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames before 16,347 fans at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome.

Next stop: Vancouver, and the final game in a seven-games-in-11-nights marathon at 7 tonight at General Motors Place.

Some how, some way, the Ducks must find an energy source to tap into by the opening faceoff. Otherwise they risk getting routed for third consecutive game.

The Ducks might also be without center Steve Rucchin, who suffered a broken nose in the first period Friday and did not return to the game. His status for tonight’s game is uncertain.

“I think the guys are tired,” goaltender Guy Hebert said. “You make mental mistakes when you’re tired. You don’t mean to, but after the game you say to yourself, ‘Geez, why did I do that?’ That’s just my perspective. I think it’s fatigue. Obviously, we don’t want to use that as an excuse.

“[But] we’ve had an unbelievable stretch of games.”

As in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the Ducks were outskated, out-hit and outscored from the start. They also gave up a short-handed goal for the third consecutive game.

A third-period rally died after an interference penalty by veteran defenseman Kevin Haller set up Theoren Fleury’s power-play goal, which gave the Flames a 5-3 lead with less than four minutes left.

“Dumb penalty,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “But that’s kind of the way we’ve been the last two games. We’ve been too dumb or too soft.”

Hartsburg didn’t want to hear about fatigue or injuries. He believed the Ducks started the game with an easygoing attitude, which is why they trailed, 2-1, after the first period and 4-1 only 2:21 into the second.

He placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of veterans such as Haller and Hebert, and also on his top line of Paul Kariya, Matt Cullen and Teemu Selanne.

Hartsburg didn’t name names, but it was clear he was referring to his No. 1 line when he said, “Just because they scored doesn’t mean they played well. Our key people aren’t playing up to expectations.”

Selanne scored his team-leading 28th and 29th goals of the season, but had a plus/minus rating of minus two. Kariya had three assists, but was a minus three. Cullen had an assist, but also was a minus three.

Of Hebert, Hartsburg said, “I don’t blame him for the Edmonton game. Certainly, he had no help. Tonight, he wasn’t at his best.”

Fleury scored two goals, added an assist and passed defenseman Al MacInnis to become the leading scorer in Calgary history with 824 points. MacInnis, who now plays for the St. Louis Blues, had 822 points.

Hebert said he should have stopped both of Fleury’s goals, and perhaps he was right. Fleury slipped a short-handed goal 52 seconds into the second period between Hebert’s pads, then later whistled a slap shot through his legs at 16:19 of the final period.

“I had as many butterflies before this game as I did before my first game in the NHL,” Fleury said. “I’ve always had that chip on my shoulder and tried to prove people wrong. I believe there is room for small players, exciting players in this game.”

Denis Gauthier, Bob Bassen, Jason Wiemer and Cale Hulse also scored for the Flames. Hebert believed he should have stopped those shots too.

“Certainly, I wasn’t as sharp as I wanted to be,” said Hebert, who gave up five goals Wednesday before being replaced by Dominic Roussel in the third period. “I gave up two goals to a guy [Fleury] who shoots the puck there [between the goalie’s legs] 90% of the time.”

Hartsburg said he would decide today whether to rest Hebert, who has started 12 consecutive games, tonight against Vancouver. Hebert did not say whether he wanted a game off.

“I’ll keep playing as long as he wants to keep playing me,” he said.