Ducks Make Several Changes for the Better

Three months ago, the Mighty Ducks’ season appeared to be on a road to nowhere. For Todd Marchant, the road looked much the same, except he was 1,963 miles away in Ohio.

The veteran center watched his role diminish with a Columbus Blue Jacket team that was at the bottom of the National Hockey League.

The Ducks weren’t much better. By late November, they were saddled with an 7-10-4 record and had just tied an unwelcome franchise record of eight straight losses.

Now, with only 25 games left on the schedule and a playoff berth suddenly possible, the Ducks are a changed team as they resume play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings.

The turnaround began Nov. 22, the day Marchant joined the Ducks -- the byproduct of a trade that sent perennial all-star Sergei Fedorov to Columbus.

At that point, Marchant could have seen it as going from one bad situation to another.

“When I got here, I couldn’t believe it,” he said of the losing streak.

“Having talked to Tyler [Wright] and Francois [Beauchemin] before I got here, they couldn’t believe it either,” he added, referring to his former Columbus teammates who were part of the Fedorov trade. “It’s a funny thing the way you can turn things around.”

Since Marchant’s arrival, the Ducks are 20-9-7. In their last 13 games, they are 8-3-2 -- a run that started with a shootout victory in Ottawa against the Senators, one of the league’s best teams.

The playoffs that once seemed unreachable are now tantalizingly at hand.

The Ducks are three points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the eighth and final playoff berth and just four points behind the Kings.

But this will be the first time the team finds itself coming out of an Olympic break with a shot at the postseason. The Ducks don’t think their momentum has been lost.

“Everyone in the league has two weeks off,” said Todd Fedoruk, the Ducks’ enforcer. “There’s no momentum at all actually. [The break] doesn’t even become a factor. It’s all about preparation, and we want to hit the ice running.

“We have to make it a positive. We’re professionals. It’s our job to perform.”

Defenseman Scott Niedermayer, who is coming off knee surgery, said the Ducks must recapture the playoff mind-set.

“Obviously, to have a long break like this, you get away from the feeling a little bit,” the Duck captain said. “Getting to the rink and being focused on what we’re trying to do, how we’re trying to play -- that’s our big challenge, to get that back as quickly as we can.”

Duck Coach Randy Carlyle has no doubt.

“It will snap back,” he said. “As professionals, that’s part of their responsibility.”

The Fedorov trade was widely seen as a salary dump by a floundering team. That view hasn’t changed. But the team has.

After Marchant came aboard off waivers from the Blue Jackets, the Ducks ended their losing streak, beating the Phoenix Coyotes, 2-1. Overall, the Ducks are 27-19-11.

“I’d love to take all the credit for that,” Marchant said with a big laugh. “There’s no rhyme of reason why it happens. The team is playing well. It’s a product of hard work and execution at the same time.”

Another player who could make a difference in the stretch run is defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh.

Ozolinsh, who rejoined the team last week after a stay in the NHL’s substance abuse program, has recovered from a knee injury and gives them an additional playmaker on the blue line.

The trades of Fedorov and winger Petr Sykora also left the Ducks decidedly younger, and they are relying on seven first-year players that make up the current roster.

Beauchemin is averaging 24 minutes on defense and has eight points in his last nine games. Left wing Chris Kunitz is on the top line and has 14 goals. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has a 2.53 goals-against average in his first full NHL season.

Rookies Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Dustin Penner also have contributed after coming up from minor-league Portland. “It’s a big thing to be part of something like this especially early in your career,” said Getzlaf, who has seven points since his recall Jan. 8. “You learn how to push and that’s what we’re doing right now. To be part of something like that, you’re going to learn a lot along the way.”

Marchant has been there. In eight-plus seasons in Edmonton, his teams made the playoffs six times. The goal, he said, is simply to get in.

“I’ve been a seventh or eighth seed and we’ve beaten No. 1 and 2 seeds,” he said. “There’s really not a big difference between the top teams and the No. 8 or 9 teams. This is what you play the entire year for. This is why you train in the off-season.”

Added Fedoruk: “Once we’re in, it’s anybody’s game.”

TONIGHT

vs. Detroit, 7:30 PST, FSN West 2

Site -- Arrowhead Pond.

Radio -- 1090.

Records -- Ducks 27-19-11; Red Wings 39-14-5.

Record vs. Red Wings (2005-06) -- 1-1-0.

Update -- Five Red Wings who played for gold-medal-winning Sweden in the Winter Olympics -- Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson -- did not play in Tuesday night’s game against San Jose and instead traveled directly to Anaheim. Detroit, which leads Ottawa by one point for the overall lead in the NHL, has nine players with at least 10 goals. Only the Kings, Ottawa and Colorado have more.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.