Ducks Get the Point but Lose

In a place where the Mighty Ducks usually don’t win, leaving their personal house of horrors with a point for their troubles was victory enough.

The Ducks’ 6-5 shootout loss Monday night to the Edmonton Oilers can be looked at two ways. By squeezing out a point, they managed to keep some momentum built at the midway point of a crucial four-game trip.

But Fernando Pisani’s goal in the shootout also resulted in the Ducks’ 11th overtime loss of the season and their 11th consecutive defeat at Rexall Place, a span that stretches nearly seven years.

The defeat left them little to do but look at the bright side as they closed to within three points of eighth-place Colorado in the Western Conference.

“We’ve got to deal with the positive,” goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “The positive is we get a big point in a building that we haven’t had much success in within the last 10 years.”

Pisani ended a wild game when he tucked a backhander between Giguere’s legs after Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth failed on their tries. In turn, Chris Kunitz, Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry came up empty against Mike Morrison.

The shootout loss was Giguere’s sixth in eight chances. Morrison was in the net only because Jussi Markkanen was pulled after Scott Niedermayer gave the Ducks a 5-4 lead at the 7:25 mark of the third period.

“The shootouts have haunted me for years,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “That’s why I don’t like them.”

The goal Giguere wanted back came at 10:27 of the third. Pisani came down the left side and threw a soft wrist shot that eluded Giguere on the short side.

“It was just one that got away,” said Giguere, who made 25 saves. “I would love to see it back. Once in a while, you’re going to give up bad goals.”

Said Carlyle: “I thought he made some big stops. I’m sure he’d like to have the fifth one back.”

The seesaw game had turned for the Ducks a second time in the third period after they rallied from a 2-0 deficit. Todd Marchant scored his first goal in 10 games to tie the score at 4-4 moments after Jaroslav Spacek had given the Oilers their second lead.

Rookie Dustin Penner got the play started when he circled in the right corner and worked his way toward the net, shielding Oiler defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron.

The rookie left wing gave the puck to Joffrey Lupul, who passed back to Penner in front of the net. Penner whacked at it twice and Marchant knocked in the third try past Markkanen for his first goal since Jan. 19 in Ottawa.

“We haven’t been able to figure in on the scoreboard but more times that not, we’ve been able to keep the puck deep and create a lot of chances,” said Marchant, who played eight-plus seasons in Edmonton. “They just haven’t gone in.”

Another struggling Duck forward, Rob Niedermayer, got his first point in nine games. Niedermayer kept the puck behind the net and managed to get a pass out to his brother, whose wrist shot resulted in his ninth goal.

Goals by Smyth and Bergeron gave Edmonton a quick 2-0 lead in the first but the Ducks responded with a three-goal rally triggered by red-hot center Andy McDonald. Perry and Kunitz followed with their own scores but that didn’t halt the Ducks’ inability to win in northern Alberta.

Giguere figures their winless streak will end. Someday.

“Eventually,” he said. “It can’t always go their way.”