Ducks’ Extra Work Is Wasted

It is becoming a cruel joke for the Mighty Ducks. Whether involved in a five-minute overtime period or an ensuing shootout, the result is predictable.

The Ducks suffered yet another overtime defeat, the Boston Bruins applying the blow this time, 4-3, Monday in the TD Banknorth Garden on Patrice Bergeron’s goal 1 minute 55 seconds into the extra period.

The defeat was the second consecutive overtime loss, this one only three days after Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin beat the Ducks in the Arrowhead Pond. More important, the Ducks’ overtime record dropped to an NHL-worst 1-9 -- 0-5 in regular overtime periods, 1-4 in shootouts.

Already six points behind eighth-place Edmonton in the Western Conference, that’s no way to start a second-half charge.

“We keep coming up short when we get into those,” Scott Niedermayer said. “That’s an opportunity to get another point. We’ve got one [extra] point in 10 opportunities.”

Bergeron and Marco Sturm triggered the latest loss, racing up the ice on a two on one, Bergeron’s faking a pass to Sturm and ripping a wrist shot over the glove of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

It was a familiar theme. The two forwards had combined on two other similar odd-man rushes in regulation, Bergeron’s feeding a crashing Sturm for punch-in goals.

Niedermayer took the blame for the last one, saying he should have been smarter while trying to be aggressive in the four-on-four overtime.

“I forced it a little bit,” he said. “We had the puck and I kept going down in the zone and kind of gave that opportunity up.... I don’t know if they can do that in practice. Three two on ones and they score on all of them.”

Said forward Andy McDonald: “If [they] don’t score on three of them tonight, you probably don’t notice them.”

In Coach Randy Carlyle’s mind, they were three too many.

“You don’t play that way,” Carlyle said. “You don’t play loose and give up those type of scoring chances and expect to win. I think we were fortunate to get a point.”

The Ducks were able to do that on a strategic move by Carlyle in the third period. As Bergeron was called for hooking, Carlyle asked the officials to check the stick of forward Sergei Samsonov.

The stick was found to be curved beyond what regulations allow and Samsonov was sent to the penalty box, giving the Ducks a two-man advantage for two minutes. The move paid off when Ryan Getzlaf tied the score with a one-timer past goalie Tim Thomas.

“We’re in a desperation position for the playoffs, trying to get points,” Carlyle said. “We’ll do those things. It’s not like you like to do them but it’s part of the rule book and you have to make those calls to give yourself the best chance.”

That goal helped the Ducks rally from a two-goal deficit against the reeling Bruins (17-21-7), who had lost three consecutive home games amid intense speculation that Coach Mike Sullivan and General Manager Mike O’Connell will be fired.

Only 58 seconds earlier, Chris Kunitz had scored to cut the margin to one goal after Sturm’s second goal had given the Bruins a 3-1 lead early in the third period. McDonald assisted on all three Duck goals, and Niedermayer had a power-play goal and an assist.

Playing without injured forwards Teemu Selanne and Rob Niedermayer, the Ducks played a lackluster first period and paid for it on goals by Sturm and Samsonov. But after managing only two shots in the first 14 minutes, they wound up outshooting Boston, 28-24.

McDonald, who has 12 points in his last nine games, tried to take the positives out of another defeat against a sub-.500 team.

“We played pretty well after a poor start,” he said. “We showed a lot of character to come back and tie it up. We had chances to win the game but we’re not satisfied with the loss.”