Bottom Feeders Are Biggest Problem

As of Tuesday morning’s NHL standings, the Mighty Ducks are 7-5-1-1 against division leaders and 2-5-1-1 against last-place teams. There is no better way to describe the hole the Ducks are trying to crawl out of, and the frustration they have heaped on themselves.

Columbus drops by the Arrowhead Pond tonight. The Blue Jackets are not last in the Central Division -- they are next to last. They are 14th in the Western Conference, yet have a victory and a tie against the Ducks this season.

Another less-than-good team that seems to handle the Ducks.

“We talked about that this morning before practice,” goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “They got nothing to lose right now. We have to make sure we come out hard. This is a game that is too important to lose. We have to be ready.”

The Ducks are coming off consecutive victories, defeating Vancouver and Dallas, two teams that currently hold playoff spots. It is the seventh time this season they have won consecutive games. Only once have they extended that streak to three games.

Their longest unbeaten streak this season is three games.

The Blue Jackets were a team that ended one Duck three-game unbeaten streak with a 2-1 victory on Dec. 2. So Coach Mike Babcock had a good reminder for his team, as well.

“When you sit where we sit right now, every team is a good team,” Babcock said. “I don’t think we have to worry about being ready here. We’ll be ready.”

It will help that Giguere seems to be back on his game, having given up only seven goals in four games since the All-Star break.

“We should be pretty focused.” Giguere said. “We need the two points.”

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Center Michael Holmqvist said an MRI last week showed that he had a “slight tear” of an abdominal muscle and was not sure when he would return to the lineup. Holmqvist already has sat out 13 games.

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Steve Rucchin, Sergei Fedorov, Ruslan Salei and Mike Leclerc sat out practice Tuesday, but Babcock said that they all would play tonight.

“We’ll have some guys take the morning skate off too,” Babcock said. “We have a lot of games coming up. It’s more important to win the games than it is to win the practices.”

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Fedorov was honored by the Ducks before Monday’s game for being the first Russian to score 1,000 points. But Rucchin had a quick word with Fedorov before that ceremony.

“He said, ‘You know Sergei, 1,000 points isn’t a career, let’s get ‘er going,’ ” Babcock said. “He zinged him pretty good.”

Fedorov scored the Ducks’ first goal in a 2-1 victory over Dallas.

TONIGHT

vs. Columbus, 7:30

Fox Sports Net 2

Site -- Arrowhead Pond.

Radio -- XPRS (1090).

Records -- Ducks 20-24-8-7; Blue Jackets 17-29-8-4.

Record vs. Blue Jackets -- 0-1-1-0.

Update -- Rick Nash has a NHL-high 31 goals, one-fourth the Blue Jackets’ total this season. The Ducks’ Petr Sykora has 18 points in the last 15 games.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.