Injuries Sting a Bit More

For all the Ducks’ talk about injuries ruining their season, they haven’t been as depleted by them as several other teams. In fact, the Ducks aren’t close to having the most man games lost because of injury.

As of Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens led the NHL with 377 man games lost and the Atlanta Thrashers were second with 324. The Ducks were 10th in the 30-team league with 157 man games lost.

However, no team has gone into a tailspin quicker than the Ducks after a key player has been injured. The Ducks were 13-15-4-3 after a 3-1 victory Dec. 17 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But captain Paul Kariya suffered a broken right foot blocking a shot in that game and the team hasn’t been the same since.

The Ducks have three victories in 25 games, losing 16, tying four and dropping two others in overtime. Is it any wonder they now are last in the Western Conference with only 45 points?

“It’s a big challenge for us,” Coach Guy Charron said when asked about salvaging something from the season’s final 22 games. “We’re getting closer. If we find a way to get a few wins, we’ll feel better about ourselves.”

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An overlooked statistic in the Ducks’ 3-2 overtime loss Friday to the Dallas Stars was the combined 76 hits credited to the players, which is without question the most exaggerated total this season.

The game was no more hard-hitting or intense than recent games involving the Ducks. The Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes combined for 43 hits Feb. 11 at the Arrowhead Pond, for instance. But apparently the Reunion Arena stat crew credits anything this side of an angry stare as a “hit.”

For what it’s worth, defenseman Pavel Trnka led the Ducks with eight “hits” and Dallas defenseman Richard Matvichuk led the Stars with seven.

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Frustrated Duck winger Teemu Selanne, after watching Dallas’ Mike Modano score a short-handed goal Friday that struck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere in the shoulder, bounced over his head and trickled down his back and into the net: “When are we going to score goals like that?”

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Giguere is determined to roll with the bad goals and results, hoping that things turn around for him and the Ducks in the stretch run. Giguere is 2-8-2 in 13 games this season.

“Every day is a learning experience for me,” said Giguere, 23. “I’m trying to get more experience for the future. I can learn from the good things and from the bad things. You gotta forget about it and work hard tomorrow in practice. That’s what I’m going to do.”