Again, Mighty Ducks Aren’t Worth a Song in Nashville

The Mighty Ducks kissed off another game here against the expansion Nashville Predators, which angered their coach again and left them searching for answers to the same old questions.

So, what happened this time?

Why isn’t the second line producing?

Where’s the fire and the passion?

“Maybe they were fatigued, but that’s a sign they’re not mentally tough enough to win yet,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said after the Ducks ended a five-game trip with a 2-1 loss Monday to the Predators before an announced crowd of 13,507 at Nashville Arena.

“It’s the same old thing in this league. Until you’re really willing to give everything you have every night, you’re not going to be a consistent winner. It’s still a learning experience. This team has got to learn how to win.”

Monday’s loss had the look and feel of the Ducks’ listless 3-1 defeat at Nashville on Nov. 27.

Duck defenseman Fredrik Olausson scored 5:18 into Monday’s game, but things went sour late in the first period.

Patric Kjellberg scored first for Nashville, knocking a loose puck past goalie Guy Hebert at 16:45. Jamie Heward’s power-play goal at 19:36 proved to be the game-winner for the Predators, who ended a franchise-high four-game losing streak.

The Ducks had no response in the second or third periods.

Their tanks were empty.

Even the return of winger Tomas Sandstrom, sidelined since Nov. 8 because of a broken left wrist, and defenseman Jason Marshall, out since suffering a partial tear of his left hamstring Dec. 18, couldn’t save the Ducks.

“It turned into a bad road trip,” winger Marty McInnis said. “It could have been a good road trip with a win.”

The Ducks were counting on a victory Monday to give them a .500 record on their trip to Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Boston and Nashville. But they ended up 1-3-1 and are 5-11-4 on the road this season.

“I think tonight we didn’t play as well as we could,” said Sandstrom, who played on a misfiring line with McInnis and center Travis Green. “We got outworked in the first period. It just proves again that you’ve got to play 60 minutes. It’s too late to try to turn it on in the last 10 minutes of a game. We had some pressure on them, but we didn’t have many scoring chances.”

After tormenting rookie goalie Tomas Vokoun in a 6-1 rout Dec. 16 at Anaheim, the Ducks almost gave him the game off in Monday’s rematch. Vokoun stopped all but Olausson’s point-blank deflection, making 28 saves.

The Ducks had a two-man advantage for 1:01 early in the third period, but failed to produce anything resembling a scoring chance. McInnis had the only official shot on net, a blast from the slot that Vokoun smothered.

As has become its custom recently, the second line produced little of note. In the last 10 games, Green has four goals and two assists and McInnis has one goal and three assists.

“We have to do more,” McInnis said. “We had our chances but weren’t willing to pay the price tonight to get the goals.”

In truth, the game was decided long before the third-period power play fizzled. Or before the McInnis-Green-Sandstrom line failed to click.

Stu Grimson fought Nashville tough-guy Patrick Cote at 15:37 of the first period. Instead of being energized by the scrap, the Ducks went flat while the Predators scored twice in the final minutes of the period.

“We have a tough time feeding off guys who like to [check] and fight,” Hartsburg said. “Some of our guys haven’t learned you’re supposed to feed off a fight. It’s supposed to give you energy.”

Asked if the Ducks overlooked the Predators for the second consecutive game at Nashville, Hartsburg said, “They’re only five points behind us now. This is a team [the Ducks] that has so much to learn. We haven’t yet learned there’s a certain level you have to play at in order to win.

“It’s the coaching staff’s job to continue to teach them.”

Class resumes at noon today at the Ducks’ practice facility in Anaheim.