Ducks Have No Answers

Welcome to the Temple of Doom.

Joe Louis Arena seems like a nice-enough place, although somebody might want to splash a new coat of paint on it more than once every 25 years. Oh well, that’s Detroit for you.

The Mighty Ducks only know it’s a building from which there seems to be no escape without a loss. It happened again in a 6-3 defeat Monday against the Red Wings that gave the Ducks a 1-9-3 record at Detroit.

The Ducks--playing without right wing Teemu Selanne, who was sidelined by a groin strain--certainly had their chances on this visit.

But they collapsed shortly after taking a 2-1 lead on Paul Kariya’s goal 25 seconds into the second period.

Larry Murphy scored the first of Detroit’s three power-play goals, Vyacheslav Kozlov added two even-strength goals and the Red Wings seized a 4-2 lead by the end of the second.

When the Ducks drew close in the third period on Jeff Nielsen’s goal at the 1:34 mark, Detroit responded with power-play goals less than a minute apart from Niklas Lidstrom and Martin Lapointe for a 6-3 lead.

Game over.

“It’s a tough place to play,” Kariya said of “the Joe.” “Basically, you have to come in here and play a perfect road game. Five on five we did a pretty good job. Everything else was horrible.”

Where to start?

Three power play goals Monday ran the opposition’s total to six in two games. The Ottawa Senators were three for three with the man advantage in a 4-2 victory Saturday.

A hooking call on Jason Marshall against Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom was painful enough for the Ducks, coming only moments after Nielsen’s goal cut the deficit to 4-3.

But Steve Rucchin took a double minor for high-sticking Holmstrom in the face, giving Detroit a two-man advantage for 1:22. The Ducks then paid the price for losing their smarts by giving up goals to Lidstrom and Lapointe.

“We had the momentum,” Rucchin said. “We were coming back at them. My penalty killed us.”

No question, it was a key moment in the game.

But there was more to the Ducks’ failures than an undisciplined play at a critical time by one of their most dependable players.

The Duck power play, the league’s best last season with a 22% success rate, failed to score on its lone chance against the Red Wings. It’s a feeble seven for 57 (12.3%) this season.

It also might have helped the Ducks’ cause if they had more than six shots on net in each of the first two periods. By game’s end, they were outshot, 28-19.

There were moments when the Ducks carried the play to the Red Wings, causing them to scramble a bit defensively. But that’s all they were, moments.

The sustained efficiency so evident when the Ducks began this four-game trip with a 2-0 victory Nov. 9 over the Toronto Maple Leafs was missing.

To be sure, the Ducks looked a whole lot better than in a 2-1 loss to Montreal last Thursday. At least you could see some emotion from the Ducks.

The Ducks also played with more effectiveness than in Saturday’s sputtering loss to Ottawa. But all they have to show for it today is their first three-game losing streak of the season.

“No question we have to regroup,” Rucchin said. “We’ve been in a lot of the games on this road trip right up until the end. We’ve got to learn to stay close and push harder.”

Rebounding starts with the first game of a four-game homestand Wednesday against Calgary. The woeful Flames, who are 5-10-2 and in last place in the Northwest Division, could be just the slump-busters the Ducks need.

Then again, the Ducks aren’t about to take anything or any team for granted at this point.

After all, Selanne’s status for Wednesday was uncertain because of his injury. The Ducks recalled winger Jeremy Stevenson from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League to bolster their forward ranks Monday.

What’s more, defenseman Fredrik Olausson could not play against Detroit because of a sore knee. Defenseman Kevin Haller suffered a knee injury in the first period and could not finish the game.

“Things change in this league pretty quickly, as we know,” Kariya said. “We’ve got to learn from this and stay on an even keel. There are 82 games in a season. You’re not going to play great for all 82.”