Ducks Require Urgent Care

By the time the Mighty Ducks’ passion bubbled Tuesday, their postgame pizzas were cooling and the 414th consecutive sellout crowd at the Pepsi Center was streaming out into a clear, chilly Rocky Mountain night and buzzing about the Avalanche’s relatively easy 3-1 victory.

During a players-only meeting, team captain Steve Rucchin and alternates Keith Carney and Sergei Fedorov spoke about caring, about persevering if they don’t score early, about not waiting until the situation is dire and then trying to hit a grand slam. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere threw a water bottle. Maybe more than once.

“Urgency,” defenseman Kurt Sauer said after the Ducks’ winless streak grew to 0-4-3. “It’s urgent time. We knew that going into the last month....

“We can’t wait another couple of games. We can’t give ourselves that luxury. We’ve got to get at it.”

For the third successive game, the Ducks had an edge in shots -- this time 30-18 -- but came away with little but cold pepperoni.

They might have withstood Colorado’s first goal, Peter Forsberg’s finisher on a give-and-go with Alex Tanguay at 5:38 of the first period, because Carney had rung a blast off the post from the left side less than a minute earlier and they weren’t being outplayed. But they took the first four penalties of the game, virtually an invitation for Colorado’s offense to strut its stuff, which it did.

Rob Blake scored from the right circle off a Fors- berg pass at 8:29, while Todd Simpson was serving an interference penalty. And while Ruslan Salei was off for hooking, a guy named Paul Kariya scored on a tap-in after Blake whacked at the puck in front and it squirted away from Giguere at 5:30 of the second period.

“It was strange to see him in another uniform,” Carney said of Kariya, who sat out Colorado’s first two games against the Ducks this season because of a wrist injury. “But once the puck drops, he’s just another player. I wish him well, he’s a great player and a great teammate, but he left, and that’s part of the game.”

Said Rucchin: “I didn’t like seeing him score that goal. I’m not too used to playing against No. 9, but I guess we have to start getting used to it.”

Fedorov beat David Aebischer from the left side at 4:54 of the third period, but the Ducks couldn’t stop Colorado from extending its surge to 7-0-0-1. They’ve been outscored, 24-14, in their last seven games and their power play is two for 19 in that span, including 0 for 15 in their last four. They’re eight points out of the last West playoff berth.

“Instead of finding a way to get it done, we’re finding ways this year to not,” said Coach Mike Babcock, who canceled plans for a day off today in Edmonton and scheduled a practice. “Moral victories don’t count. We still find ways to get a revolver out and shoot ourselves in the foot.”

It was here on Jan. 9, 2003, that the Ducks began the turnaround that launched them to the Stanley Cup finals. A night after being shut out by Edmonton at home, they went to Denver and erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 in a 5-3 victory. They went on a 12-3-0-1 run and built their assurance and momentum, qualities they now lack.

“Now everybody has to look at themselves,” Sauer said. “I know I have to be better. I have to be more confident right from the get-go.... You have to look inside at what you have to do to make this team better.”

Carney said the postgame session centered on belief, as have others before this.

“We play good against good teams -- we get scoring chances and we’re tightening defensively and we’ve been out-chancing most of the teams we play against,” he said. “We need to start believing in ourselves and start expecting to win. That’s what we did well last season.

“Absolutely, there’s time to do it. We’ve shown signs. We just haven’t been consistent enough.”