Ducks Are Their Own Worst Enemy, 1-0

Teemu Selanne’s forte over 13 high-flying seasons has been putting the puck in the net, but neither he nor the Mighty Ducks could have imagined what would transpire Wednesday night.

As frustrating losses go this season, the Ducks have had a full share of them, but none may top their 1-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets when Selanne inadvertently put the puck through goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s legs and into his own net.

Blue Jacket forward Jason Chimera was credited with the game-winner at 16 minutes 53 seconds of the third period, but it was clear that Selanne pushed the puck past Giguere as he tried to tuck it under the goalie to gain a whistle during a wild scramble in front of the net.

“I thought Jiggy had seen the puck,” Selanne said. “Then when I realized he didn’t see it, I tried to put my stick behind him. Then it actually hit his pad and it pushed it even more into the goal.

“It’s a tough break. Especially tonight when we had so many chances.”

It proved to be a tough break for Giguere. Making 41 saves, he stood tallest when the Ducks repeatedly hurt themselves by taking penalties.

On the key play, Giguere made an initial save on Chimera but did not gain control of the puck and lost track of it as it slid out from under his pads. As teammate Mike Rupp crashed the net, Selanne saw the puck and tried to get it to Giguere instead of clearing it out of the crease.

“I thought the puck stayed there because he kept banging on my pads and the puck ended up in front of the net somehow,” Giguere said. “Teemu wanted to give it to me so I could freeze it but I didn’t know he was trying to do that.”

Giguere didn’t fault Selanne’s good intentions but said it was “not the ideal play” and that there needed to be better communication.

“Sometimes that can be a good play,” he said. “But in the heat of the moment, you’re just trying to do something.”

The loss dropped the Ducks’ road record to 3-9-3, the NHL’s third-worst mark. The Ducks were also frustrated by Columbus goalie Marc Denis. They put 40 shots on goal -- 11 in the first 10 minutes -- but Denis made a number of acrobatic saves to notch his first shutout of the season.

“It just seemed like one of those games where you are going to see a greasy goal go in and one in fact did,” Chimera said.

Through Giguere’s efforts, the Ducks killed all 10 of the Blue Jackets’ power plays, including two five-on-three advantages.

While Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said their decision-making and execution were lacking, he also wondered about the number of penalty calls against his team.

“It seems for whatever reason, if we take our free hand off our stick, no matter what happens we got a penalty for it,” Carlyle said.

“Any kind of a push on the hands or whatever, we got called for it. We can’t do that.”

Selanne, who took three penalties, was more blunt.

“I think there’s a penalty called diving too,” he said. “Maybe some referees don’t know that.”