Power (Play) Failure Hits a Low

It’s evident the Ducks miss power-play quarterback Fredrik Olausson, who retired from the NHL at the end of last season and has been playing in Switzerland. With Olausson in command, the Ducks led the NHL with a 22% success rate in 1998-99 and were 14th overall last season at 16.6%.

The Ducks’ power play this season isn’t so bad considering that injuries to forwards Paul Kariya, Mike Leclerc and Steve Rucchin weakened the team’s top unit for long stretches. The Ducks have converted 46 of 279 chances with the man-advantage for a 16.5% success rate, which is just above the league average of 16.3%.

However, in the last eight games, the Ducks are two for 30 (6.7%). Kariya has been back in the lineup for seven of those eight games after sitting out 16 because of a broken right foot.

“We have to be better on the power play,” said defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, who leads the team with 25 power-play points in his first season as Olausson’s replacement.

“It’s a big part of our game that’s missing right now. It could have won [Sunday’s game against Carolina] for us.”

The Ducks fired blanks on four power plays and had to rally on Leclerc’s even-strength goal in the third period to tie the Hurricanes, 2-2.

“What exactly is wrong, I can’t tell you,” Tverdovsky said. “Maybe [Sunday] we didn’t win the battles for the loose pucks. We didn’t have good possession. We didn’t get set up. We did a lot of skating after they cleared the puck. It’s tougher for them if we get the puck in the attacking zone and keep possession.”

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Leclerc groaned when asked about sitting out for six weeks because of torn knee cartilage that required surgery.

“It was really frustrating,” he said. “You see the guys after the games and nobody’s happy because we’re losing. At practice, nobody’s happy. I felt guilty because I couldn’t help the team.”

Leclerc’s goal Sunday was his first in three games since returning to the lineup. He was injured Dec. 28 and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Jan. 16.

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Coach Guy Charron wasn’t immediately certain whether Jean-Sebastien Giguere or Guy Hebert would start in goal Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Giguere has been sharp in three consecutive starts. Hebert is 0-11-2 since his last victory Dec. 17 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Ducks are 3-16-3-1 since Kariya was injured while blocking a shot in the Tampa Bay game.

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Gregg Naumenko, the Ducks’ top goaltending prospect, was 7-0 with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in January for Cincinnati of the American Hockey League. He was named the AHL’s goalie of the month.