Ducks Can’t Handle Calgary

Just as they have the sputtering Kings in their sights down the road that leads to the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are troubling signs for the Mighty Ducks.

To the point, it is the Ducks’ suddenly ineffective penalty-killing unit that is the clearest sign of danger as the Calgary Flames burned them for three power-play goals in a 3-1 victory Wednesday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Ducks have given up eight power-play goals in 26 situations over the last four games and that includes a perfect performance against San Jose when they killed all eight disadvantages on Saturday to start the four-game trip.

The effort wasn’t close to perfect Wednesday with the workmanlike-trio of Matthew Lombardi, Daymond Langkow and Chris Simon doing the honors for the Flames. With the loss, the Ducks remained four points behind the eighth-place Kings in the Western Conference.

“It’s a warning sign for our group that we’ve got to make some adjustments and we’ve got to play harder in those situations,” Coach Randy Carlyle said.

Defenseman Scott Niedermayer was blunt about their recent efforts.

“We’ve got to pay the price a little more,” the Duck captain said. “It’s not easy killing penalties. You’ve got to be willing to pay the price.

“Maybe we’re just not willing to do that right now. We’ve got to get right back to it.”

Lombardi capitalized on an early chance in the first period provided by Chris Kunitz, who was whistled for a hooking penalty.

Lombardi snapped a wrist shot by Jean-Sebastien Giguere at the 6:11 mark for his fourth goal of the season but second in two games.

Things did start nicely for the Ducks as they buried their first power-play chance.

Continuing its impressive work of late, the line of Andy McDonald, Teemu Selanne and Kunitz created the man advantage with some persistent play in the Calgary zone that drew a tripping penalty by Flame center Stephane Yelle.

On the ensuing advantage, Francois Beauchemin shot from the point. Miikka Kiprusoff made the save, but Selanne jumped on the rebound, weaved around the fallen goalie and flicked a backhander off the left post.

McDonald pounced on the loose puck before Kiprusoff could recover and scored for a 1-1 tie.

And that was it.

Whether it was the play of Kiprusoff or a robust defense led by Robyn Regehr and rookie Dion Phaneuf, the Duck offense was seemingly content to fire away from outside rather than fight its way to the net.

“We didn’t play enough on the inside tonight,” Carlyle said. “We played too much on the perimeter. I didn’t think we competed inside hard enough. We won some battles along the wall but we didn’t get inside and get enough traffic in front of Kiprusoff.”

Kiprusoff made 31 saves but rarely had to do anything spectacular.

Giguere had 21 saves, bouncing back from a shaky effort Monday against Edmonton.

“They play well in their own zone,” McDonald said. “They make it difficult to get to the net. Teams like that, you’ve really got to make the extra effort to get past [defenders] and get to the net.”

But Giguere couldn’t hold off the Flames as Langkow and Simon provided the difference with power-play goals in the second period. The Ducks short-circuited their efforts by failing on two power plays in the third and cutting off another with a penalty by Beauchemin.

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Forward Tyler Wright was a healthy scratch for the 10th consecutive game. The other Duck scratches were defenseman Jason Marshall and forward Travis Moen, who is close to a full recovery from a separated shoulder.