Trip Will Be No Vacation

The Ducks spent three days preparing to play a sound game Wednesday against the New York Islanders. It didn’t work and the lifeless Ducks lost to the league’s worst team, 4-2.

Now, they hope hitting the road snaps them from a 3-11-2 slide that has put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Ducks, who are 10th in the Western Conference, begin a four-game trip to Pittsburgh, Boston, Buffalo and Philadelphia tonight against the Penguins.

“Maybe it’s a good time to get away,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “When you’re on the road, the only thing on your mind is hockey. You hear a lot of teams coming on West Coast trips saying, ‘Let’s get this thing going.’ ”

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The opening minutes of recent games seem to be crucial to the Ducks. If they score a quick goal or someone throws a big check or gets into a scrap, the Ducks are fine. But if they play passively, as they did against New York, they have trouble.

“Everybody should be ready to bury the other team,” right wing Teemu Selanne said. “Our team has only first gear and second gear right now. We can’t play in first gear only and expect to win. We have to be in second gear or higher.

“We had a good chance to win [against the Islanders] and we weren’t even close.”

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For the record, defenseman Fredrik Olausson played his 900th game Wednesday against the Islanders. The figure in Thursday’s editions was incorrect.

TONIGHT

at Pittsburgh, 4:30 PST

Channel 9

* Site--Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh.

* Radio--KOGO (600).

* Records--Ducks 20-24-6-1, Penguins 20-24-4-5.

* Record vs. Penguins--1-0.

* Update--The Ducks have never won at Pittsburgh, having gone 0-3-2. The Ducks have a 2-0-1 overall streak against the Penguins and scored a 2-1 overtime victory Oct. 27 at Anaheim. Like the Ducks, the Penguins are in a funk. A 4-1 victory Thursday over the expansion Atlanta Thrashers gave Pittsburgh a 2-6-1 record in nine games.