Ducks Give Chance Away

There were stoic faces and short answers.

Mighty Duck defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski, whose turnover led to Jarret Stoll’s goal 36 seconds into overtime that gave Edmonton a 2-1 victory Monday, didn’t bat an eye when asked if it was a tough night.

“Yeah,” Vishnevski said.

Duck Coach Mike Babcock wasted only a few syllables more in agreeing.

“I’d say,” Babcock said.

The Ducks have come to this in what they expected to be a banner season -- possibly a championship banner one. Little return on the ice, little left to say about it.

Vishnevski had the puck behind the Duck net. Then he didn’t. The Oilers’ Igor Ulanov unloaded a shot from the blue line and Stoll was there to bat at the rebound, knocking the puck in on his third try to send the 16,183 at the Rexall Place happily into the frigid night.

It was Vishnevski’s second gaffe of the game. His turnover gave Ethan Moreau a silver-platter opportunity that he buried for the Oilers’ first goal 3:27 into the first period.

“Any time you are directly responsible, it’s tough for you,” Babcock said.

“No one goes out there with the idea, ‘I’m going to let my teammates down.’ Vish is a warrior. He battles for us. He made some mistakes.”

Vishnevski hardly stands alone in that area this season. Unfortunately for the Ducks, their theme has been: Make a mistake, lose a close game.

The Ducks have an 8-13 record in one-goal games after winning 25 last season, tops in the NHL.

This was the Ducks league-high seventh overtime loss, which gave them a point that was pointless.

They have lost three of four in a five-game pre-All-Star break stretch that was their self-imposed last chance.

In movie terms, that’s a wrap. In Duck hopes, just fiddle with the timetable a little.

“We have to win Wednesday against Carolina,” forward Petr Sykora said. “Then we have to come out of the break and get on a roll, win six or seven games in row. That’s what it is going to take to catch up.

“Last season, we had a stretch where we won 20 of 30 games. This team is capable of doing that. It’s our only chance.”

The Oilers had lost four of their last five games, leaving them three points ahead of the 13th-place Ducks, a level where a playoff spot is barely visible on the horizon. Then the Ducks came to town and lost their 10th consecutive game in Edmonton.

They did find some silver linings, however small.

The Ducks got a goal from Edmonton-native Joffrey Lupul, who swept in a rebound to tie the score 14:53 into the first period. They got a quality game from goaltender Martin Gerber, who stopped 26 of 28 shots, with a handful of bang-bang saves.

“It wasn’t enough,” Gerber said

Mainly because he couldn’t cover for every opportunity the Ducks provided for the Oilers.

Vishnevski never saw Moreau when he shanked a pass across the slot in the first. Moreau pounced on the puck and whizzed it into the net before Gerber could react.

“The puck was bouncing and I didn’t see that,” Vishnevski said. “My bad.”

Lupul got the Ducks even. Chris Armstrong’s shot from the blue line was stopped by goalie Ty Conklin. Lupul avoided a check at the crease and pushed the rebound into the net to the delight of the many family and friends he had attending the game.

“That’s like a dream come true,” Lupul said. “I must have come to 80 or more games here as a kid.... I could hear some of my friends yelling my name during the game. That was nice.”

Yet, as has been the case many times for the Ducks this season, the not-so-nice dulled the moment.

Said Lupul: “It would have been better if we would have won here.”

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UP NEXT

Wednesday, vs. Carolina, 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net 2 -- In the last decade, four teams missed the playoffs the season after reaching the Stanley Cup finals. Carolina is one and the Ducks are currently on a path to be the fifth team to do it. Since beating the Hurricanes, 3-1, on Dec. 31, the Ducks have a 3-8-4-1 record.

-- Chris Foster