Ducks’ Play Runs the Gamut in Frustrating Loss to Coyotes

In case you’ve missed any portion of the Mighty Ducks’ season, your favorite confused hockey team provided a 60-minute recap Saturday at America West Arena.

The Ducks were awesome and awful, brilliant and brutal, dominating and dominated--all in one easy-to-manage package. Ultimately, they also were 4-2 losers to the Phoenix Coyotes before a sellout crowd of 16,210.

The question now is: Which way does this team go?

Will the Ducks falter, caving in to the twin perils of frustration and lost confidence? Or will they weather this midseason storm, regroup and make a strong push down the stretch?

Coach Craig Hartsburg is certain which way the Ducks will head, starting this week with games against the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks.

“It’s not going to be long before this black cloud that’s been hanging over us drifts away,” Hartsburg said after the Ducks fell to 1-7-1 in their last nine games. “It’s not far away. We’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Hartsburg got no postgame debate from right wing Teemu Selanne.

“The wins will come,” Selanne said. “That’s my promise.”

Captain Paul Kariya was less certain, but no less optimistic.

“Everything doesn’t always go right for you, but you have to stick with it and learn from your mistakes,” said Kariya, who had 11 of the Ducks’ season-high 42 shots. “We did a lot of good things tonight.”

The Ducks also had their share of breakdowns, four of which led to Coyote goals.

In the first period, four Ducks went to the right-wing boards, leaving Fredrik Olausson alone to defend the front of the net. They paid the price, when Teppo Numminen beat Guy Hebert at the 11:19 mark.

Next, after Olausson got the Ducks even in the final minute of the first period, Shane Doan scored a short-handed goal midway through the second. Kariya rallied the Ducks, scoring on a breakaway at 12:12 of the second.

All things considered, a 2-2 tie looked pretty good to the Ducks at that point. But two more coverage mistakes enabled the Coyotes to win their fourth in five games against the Ducks.

Defenseman Pascal Trepanier misplayed a bouncing puck at his own blue line, swatting at it with his glove instead of using his stick. Phoenix’s Trevor Letowski gathered the loose puck and raced ahead to deliver a shot Hebert easily stopped.

But the Ducks’ failure to backcheck cost them. Rick Tocchet swatted home the rebound for his 900th NHL point and a 3-2 Phoenix lead at 16:33 of the final period.

“No way they should even get a second shot,” Hartsburg said.

The Ducks then left Keith Tkachuk uncovered in the slot. Dallas Drake found him and Tkachuk beat a helpless Hebert with a one-timer at 16:51.

“That’s the breaks,” Kariya said. “If you’re an honest, hard-working team, those things tend to even out.”

The Ducks’ 3-1 victory Friday against the St. Louis Blues notwithstanding, all sorts of things seem to be going against them at the moment.

Take the Ducks’ second-period power play that resulted in Doan’s goal.

Kariya whistled a blistering shot off the left goal post, then Marty McInnis hammered one off the mask of rookie goalie Robert Esche and up into the crowd.

Less than a minute later, the Ducks failed to keep the puck in at the left point and Doan then scored for a 2-1 Coyote lead.

“It just shows how things have been going,” Selanne said. “Right now, there’s a feeling that nothing is working. We need a game or two when things go our way.”

After a slow start in which they were outshot, 10-4, in the first 13:54, the Ducks kick-started their game. They had a huge advantage in shots on goal after the first period and outshot Phoenix, 42-30.

The Ducks also had terrific movement on their power play, but went scoreless in four chances. They are 18 for 165 (10.9%) this season.

“We had a lot of Grade-A opportunities, but sometimes they just don’t go in,” Kariya said.