Ducks Win One but Gain Nothing

The Mighty Ducks’ treadmill continued to spin wildly out of control Monday. When and where it will stop is still anyone’s guess.

Skating hard, but not getting anywhere in the Western Conference standings, the Ducks took a 3-1 victory from the Nashville Predators before an announced crowd of 15,759 at the Arrowhead Pond.

Steve Rucchin, Jorgen Jonsson and Kip Miller scored for the Ducks, who defeated Nashville for the third time this season. Cliff Ronning had Nashville’s lone goal.

Meanwhile in Edmonton, the ninth-place Ducks got no help from the seventh-place Oilers, who gave up a third-period short-handed goal and lost, 1-0, to the eighth-place Sharks.

The Ducks are three points behind the Sharks and four behind the Oilers.

The Ducks’ final three games are Wednesday at Chicago, Friday at Nashville and Sunday against the Kings at the Pond.

The Sharks also have three games remaining--Wednesday at home against Dallas, Friday at Phoenix and Sunday at home against Vancouver.

Edmonton has games remaining at home Wednesday against Colorado, Friday at Vancouver and Saturday at Calgary.

“Wednesday’s going to be a big night,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We’ve got to take care of business. We can really put the heat on these other teams. We’ve got to play our best game of the year against Chicago. . . . Now, there’s two teams [within sight]. Edmonton is back in the picture.”

The Ducks certainly upheld their end of the bargain Monday, dominating the speedy Predators for long stretches. The Ducks also continued their recent practice of easily outshooting the opposition. Monday it was by 34-17.

Dating to the start of the second period of a 4-3 overtime victory March 26 against the Phoenix Coyotes, the Ducks have outshot the opposition, 91-42.

The Ducks buzzed Mike Dunham’s net Monday, but didn’t have much to show for their work in the Predators’ end of the ice.

Teemu Selanne set up Rucchin’s power-play goal (on a one-timer from point-blank range) with a quick pass from behind the net only 1:40 into the game.

But the Ducks got nothing else past Dunham until late in the second period. Jonsson’s wrist shot from a tough angle along the right-wing boards somehow slipped past Dunham with 1:34 left in the second.

The Ducks seemed poised to take command early in the second period, but instead watched Ronning pounce on an errant centering pass from Tom Fitzgerald and whip a backhander beneath Guy Hebert. Ronning’s team-leading 25th goal tied the score, 1-1, 8:10 into the second.

Jonsson’s go-ahead goal might have been the easiest shot Dunham faced during the second period. It wasn’t a particularly hard shot and there wasn’t a much traffic in front of Dunham, but the puck still found its way to the back of the net.

“A huge goal,” Hartsburg said of Jonsson’s first since the Ducks acquired him March 11 from the New York Islanders. “Going into the third period tied, 1-1, would have made us pretty edgy. Kip’s goal really took the pressure off us.”

Jonsson then set up the back-breaking goal 1:50 into the final period, finding a hard-charging Miller on the left wing. Miller accepted the pass and beat Dunham with a quick shot for a 3-1 Duck lead.