Ducks Let This One Get Away

Easy answers.

Difficult answers.

Any old answer.

The Mighty Ducks seem to lack a response these days, either on the ice or in the dressing room. That’s the difficulty when you have to explain the same-old, same-old.

They labored offensively Sunday. They made a defensive gaffe that provided the game-winning goal for Edmonton in its 3-2 victory. There was a collective shrug afterward.

The Oilers’ Raffi Torres slipped down the slot while the Ducks’ Andy McDonald watched. Torres then whipped a wrist shot just inside the left post with 5 minutes 29 seconds left to give the Oilers the lead, and victory, which sent the 12,426 in the Arrowhead Pond meandering like their team into the night.

Until that point, the Ducks seemed to have control. After that moment, it was just a countdown to more postgame bewilderment.

“We need to find a way, no question,” team captain Steve Rucchin said. “I wish I had an easy answer right now.”

McDonald took a whack at it.

“I lost my guy in the slot, that’s it,” McDonald said. “Then the pass went by me and he scored.”

The week started fine for the Ducks, as they linked consecutive victories over Dallas and San Jose. A big step forward was the Ducks’ hope. Losses to San Jose and Edmonton on consecutive nights left them where they started: Treading water in the Pacific ... Division.

The Ducks sit one point ahead of last-place Dallas. That has led the Ducks back to some Coaching 101 philosophies.

“The bottom line is when you put the jersey on, you got to be able to do the job,” Coach Mike Babcock said after seeing his team lose for the fourth time in six games.

There were moments of lunch-pail effort. McDonald scored first by lurking around the net. Petr Sykora tied the score 34 seconds into the third period. Jean-Sebastien Giguere had a decent effort in his first game in nine days, which included five quality saves with the Oilers on a two-man advantage in the first period.

Yet, the Ducks were left explaining another game as best they could.

“When things don’t tend to go your way that’s when things don’t,” Rucchin said. “You kind of sit back a little too much. You don’t want to, it just happens. At the same time, we have to find a way to get out of the funk. It’s easy to sit back and be afraid to make mistakes. I think that’s what’s causing us to make mistakes.”

McDonald gave the Ducks an early lead. Duck defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski fired the puck on net and it landed at McDonald’s feet. A little stick work and the Ducks had a 1-0 lead 3:16 into the game.

“Vish shot on net, the puck went up and I think the goalie lost it in the air,” McDonald said. “I just tapped it in.”

Babcock, whose team has scored two goals or less in 18 of 31 games, would like to have that play photocopied and redistributed. The Ducks, though, seem to have an aversion to blue paint, like that in the crease.

Which led to more questions.

“How often do you see scrambles around the other team’s net?” Rucchin said. “We’re not getting the puck to the net. We’re not getting bodies there. That’s how most of the goals are scored right now. There are not too many tic-tac-toe plays any more.”

The Oilers had one. Rudy Dvorak cruised behind the net, stopped, reversed direction and found Cory Cross charging the net. Cross easily chipped a shot to tie the score, 1-1, 11:21 into the first period.

Duck defenseman Niclas Havelid -- who was on the ice for the three Oiler goals -- hesitated on a play in the second period. That allowed Jason Chimera time to bury a powerful shot for a 2-1 lead five minutes into the second period.