Avalanche Extends Duck Losing Streak

The message was simple in three written letters on the blackboard in the Mighty Duck locker room hours before the game: W-I-N.

As clear as the objective was, a win has become mission impossible for the Ducks, who dropped their seventh game in a row Friday night with a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Arrowhead Pond.

Marek Svatos made sure it was another frustrating night for the Ducks when he put in the winner at 14:02 of the third. The Ducks’ losing streak is the longest since the 1997-98 season.

“At this point, there’s not really much left to say,” captain Scott Niedermayer said. “We lost the game. We need to find a way to win, period.”

The Ducks have picked up three points during the losing streak by extending games into overtime. But they were unable to do that Friday and their record fell to 7-9-2-2.

Teemu Selanne had two chances in the final two minutes to lift the Ducks out of a last-place tie with San Jose in the Pacific Division. Colorado goalie Peter Budaj made his biggest save when he stopped the right wing on a one-timer.

Selanne, who ended a seven-game goal-scoring drought earlier in the third, had an open net with five seconds left but couldn’t get a clean shot and hit the right post.

“I think the effort is there,” Selanne said. “We played well, we worked hard and we had all kind of chances but we can’t seem to score right now.”

Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who had just two games of NHL experience before this season, has little to show for his solid work. He made his second consecutive start in place of injured Jean-Sebastien Giguere and stopped 28 shots, including a penalty shot by Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark in the second period.

But the 25-year-old netminder’s record dropped to 1-6-0 when Svatos shot quickly off Alex Tanguay’s short pass and scored at 14:02 of the third.

“We basically ended up with two players on the puck and he snuck into the high slot,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said of Svatos.

The Ducks hurt themselves with ill-timed penalties. Newly-acquired center Tyler Wright took a hooking penalty with 4.1 seconds left in the second and Ryan Getzlaf put them two men down with another hooking penalty 1:43 into the third.

Wright’s portion ended 13 seconds later but Colorado took advantage on Steve Konowalchuk’s goal to grab a 2-1 lead.

Milan Hejduk’s tap-in off a feed from Tanguay put Colorado on top in the first. The Ducks responded later at 17:22 when Jonathan Hedstrom intercepted a pass by Colorado’s John-Michael Liles in the Avalanche end and put a shot between the pads of Budaj for his fifth goal.

The Ducks put 31 shots on Budaj, but their problems finding the net and winning continue.

Said Carlyle: “It’s a frustrating event when you play as hard as we played tonight and don’t get rewarded for it.”