On the Island, Ducks Sink to the Bottom

Bottom feeders again.

The Mighty Ducks have outdone themselves this season, free-falling to last place in the Western Conference even quicker than they did a season ago. A 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders in front of 16,234 Saturday, combined with Columbus’ tie Friday, gave the Ducks sole possession of the cellar, where they finished in 2000-2001.

The Ducks started fine Saturday, carrying the play to the Islanders. In a matter of seconds, however, it was over.

Mark Parrish and Michael Peca scored goals 21 seconds apart to break a 1-1 tie in the second period. Parrish finished with a hat trick, the third of his career, and one assist. Peca had a goal and two assists.

The Ducks did what they could to help out, providing silver-platter opportunities in extending their winless streak to nine games, equaling the longest in franchise history. The Ducks have also lost six consecutive games, two shy of the franchise’s longest losing streak.

“We make the game hard to play by some of the impossible passes that we try to make and don’t make,” Duck Coach Bryan Murray said. “We just make the game hard. Everyone is trying to do things that are very difficult to do. It’s a product of losing and also, in this case, playing a pretty good hockey team.”

No one would have been bold enough to call the Islanders a “pretty good hockey team” a year ago ... or two years ago ... or three years ago. The Islanders were bottom feeders themselves, until this season.

They traded for Peca and Alexei Yashin, then gave both lucrative, some say outlandish, contracts. They picked up goalie Chris Osgood on waivers and added depth here and there.

The result: The Islanders lead the Atlantic Division and had their fifth sellout of the season. They sold out four games in 2000-2001, when they were one of three teams in the league to finish with fewer points than the Ducks.

Duck General Manager Pierre Gauthier was at Saturday’s game, providing him an up-close look at how to salvage a team. Of course, the Islander way isn’t necessarily the Duck, or Disney, way.

“What did they spend?” Murray said. “All they did was go out and get some players. They spent another $15 million. The other thing, they had some assets [to trade].”

Gauthier insists he is following a blueprint. Then again, there was also a blueprint for the Titanic. And the Ducks find themselves sinking on this six-game road trip, having lost the first five.

“If things aren’t going well, you squeeze your stick tighter,” Marty McInnis said. “You do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

There was plenty of that Saturday.

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead in the first period on German Titov’s second goal of the season. That was the Duck high point.

Late in the period, defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky tried to clear the puck from the Duck zone, but didn’t. Roman Hamrlik stopped it at the blue line and fired a shot past goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

“Either I have to make sure [the puck] is out or I have to hold it wait for support,” Tverdovsky said. “I didn’t do either. We don’t have breaks, every time we make a mistake, it’s in the net.”

That seemed to be the case against the Islanders.

Giguere and defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski failed to communicate and both tried to clear the puck from behind the net in the second period. Peca picked up the dribbler and fed Parrish, who went untouched to the net to score, giving the Islanders a 2-1 lead eight minutes into the second period.

A Duck turnover in the Islander zone set up Peca 21 seconds later. Mariusz Czerkawski slipped a pass to Peca, who split Tverdovsky and Pavel Trnka and buried the puck for a 3-1 lead. Steve Shields replaced Giguere.

“I think, as a team, we’re struggling, and everybody is trying to be the hero,” Giguere said. ... “We’re in this as a team right now and we’re going to get out of it as a team.”

Parrish scored two third-period goals to give the Islanders a 5-1 lead.

“I can’t go into that room and criticize anyone or anything like that,” Murray said. “The guys are working hard for the most part. As soon as they get a couple goals on us, then it becomes a very difficult game.”