It Keeps Getting Uglier for Ducks

Beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

“The ugly of the game doesn’t matter,” San Jose Coach Ron Wilson said. “If you find a way to get a point, it’s huge.”

The ugly mattered to the Mighty Ducks on Saturday.

The issues in a 2-0 loss to San Jose were the same -- another poor start, more turnovers, continuing offensive inertia and more road woes.

The Sharks’ Alexander Korolyuk and Jonathan Cheechoo scored goals. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 28 shots for his 19th shutout, sending the 16,216 at the HP Pavilion home happy. The Ducks, meanwhile, saw their road winless streak reach 11 games.

“We don’t play with the same intensity on the road as we do at home,” captain Steve Rucchin said. “I don’t know why, but we need to figure it out. We’re not going to go undefeated at home the rest of the season.”

The Ducks let an opportunity get away Saturday. Cheechoo finally put the game out of reach on a third-period power play.

He skated by a pylon-like Vitaly Vishnevski and tucked a shot top shelf for a 2-0 lead with 5 minutes 37 seconds left.

All in all, the Ducks looked to be a team in need of help, having scored two or fewer goals in 17 of 30 games this season. Help, though, is not coming soon, not from Edmonton forward Mike Comrie -- whose trade to the Ducks remains in limbo -- nor from the growing number of Duck players who are spending more time in the training room than they are on the ice.

The Ducks played without Keith Carney, their top defenseman, who is out because of back spasms. The Ducks were already without forward Rob Niedermayer (strained groin), defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh (ribcage injury) and forward Mike Leclerc (knee surgery) -- players who played prominent roles in the Ducks’ run to the Stanley Cup finals last spring.

“So what? Who cares?” Coach Mike Babcock said. “Let’s move on, we’re not talking about the injuries.”

Others, though, were lacking such blinders.

“It has an effect,” Rucchin said. “We were fortunate last season because we were healthy all year. Every team has to get through injuries, but those are still pretty key guys.”

The injury issue, as much as Babcock wants to dodge it, is gaining momentum.

Defenseman Kurt Sauer injured his right arm Saturday but played through the pain. The Ducks, who were down to six defensemen as it was, will consider calling up a player.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere again sat on the bench Saturday while Martin Gerber played in goal for the third consecutive game. Giguere, though, will be in the lineup tonight.

Gerber was sharp enough, stopping 23 of 25 shots. But another slow start by the Ducks hurt him.

“Games are won 72% of the time by the team that scores first,” Babcock said. “So you just can’t give a team an opportunity five minutes into the game.

“We can’t keep playing from behind. That’s an issue.”

Niclas Havelid had a soft pass intercepted by Korolyuk in the neutral zone. Korolyuk sped between Havelid and Rucchin and whipped a shot past Gerber for a 1-0 lead 2:02 into the period.

“The turnovers are unacceptable,” Rucchin said. “We’re making it easy for teams. That’s just bad hockey.”