Ducks Are Knocked From a Lofty Perch

Maybe these playoffs will ultimately be a different story, but the Mighty Ducks continue to write the same type of sad ending when it comes to the saga starring the Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers grabbed hold of the Western Conference finals in a manner the Ducks had become accustomed to this postseason, getting stellar goaltending and opportunistic scoring in a 3-1 Game 1 victory at the Arrowhead Pond on Friday night.

It was the Ducks’ first defeat since Game 5 of the conference quarterfinals against the Calgary Flames. The Ducks will look to tie the series Sunday before playing Games 3 and 4 in Edmonton, where they haven’t won in seven years.

“You know, you’re not expecting to have a winning streak all the way through this,” Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer said. “You’re going to lose games. It’s a matter of how you respond and how you play the next day or next two days.”

Beating the Oilers has become a tall order. The Ducks lost all four meetings during the regular season and they didn’t look much better after a seven-day break since sweeping Colorado in the conference semifinals.

After a six-game playoff winning streak, maybe a wake-up call was in order.

“No one was happy,” forward Teemu Selanne said about the team’s demeanor afterward. “Maybe it was good they got a little ... angry. Maybe we’ll stick with the play now.”

Both teams had trouble putting plays together as they dealt with a choppy ice surface. In the end, the difference was the play of Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

Roloson had lost his job in Minnesota after splitting time with Manny Fernandez. The Oilers, who were desperate to find someone they could rely on in the net, picked him up at the trade deadline.

After a rough start, the 36-year-old netminder is getting better as the playoffs progress. Two days after getting his first career playoff shutout in eliminating San Jose, Roloson stopped 31 Ducks shots to outduel red-hot Ilya Bryzgalov.

“When we do break down, he’s behind us to make the saves,” Oilers Coach Craig MacTavish said. “He’s been a big part of why we’re having success in our own end. The few point-blank shots we did give up, he was up to the task.”

Roloson also took the air out of a charged-up sellout crowd with a brilliant play late in the first period.

As the Ducks were on a power play courtesy of Chris Pronger’s elbowing penalty, Roloson picked off a poor dump pass into the Oilers’ zone and flipped the puck out to center ice with his backhand.

Center Michael Peca read the play and jumped behind the defense for a breakaway. Peca, who scored a key goal Wednesday against the Sharks, moved in and put a shot between the legs of the sprawled Bryzgalov for a 1-0 lead.

The play seemed to catch the Ducks by surprise.

“We know he does that,” center Andy McDonald said. “We saw it in the San Jose series. We have to be more aware than we were.”

McDonald did his part by answering only 28 seconds later on the same power play as he got a pass from Francois Beauchemin and ripped a slap shot that deflected off the stick of Edmonton defenseman Jason Smith and over Roloson’s shoulder into the net.

The Ducks seemed to have fresh legs after their long layoff, but the sharpness with which they used to great success against the Avalanche was missing. They were also hurt by a mental error that resulted in the deciding goal.

With Sean O’Donnell already in the penalty box for holding, defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski took a run at Edmonton’s Raffi Torres in the neutral zone but got his stick up and drew a whistle, which gave the Oilers a two-man advantage.

The Ducks killed off O’Donnell’s penalty, but Ales Hemsky made them pay when he batted in a rebound of Ryan Smyth’s slap shot at the 11:35 mark of the second period.

“It’s one of those things that maybe a better selection of timing on trying to make that hit in the neutral ice would have been called for at that time,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “But, you know, we’re an aggressive hockey club and we can’t change from being aggressive.”

As time was running out, the Ducks pulled Bryzgalov for an extra attacker with 1:08 left. The Oilers’ Todd Harvey jumped on a puck along the boards at the red line and shot into the net to clinch their fifth straight playoff win.

“I’m not worried about this,” said Bryzgalov, who made 23 saves. “We lost a game. It’s not a big deal.... This is going to be a seven-game series. We just need to be better in four.”

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The series

Oilers lead series, 1-0

*-if necessary

DUCKS VS. EDMONTON

Game 1: Edmonton 3, at Ducks 1

Game 2: at Ducks, Sunday, 6 p.m.

Game 3: at Edmonton, Tuesday, 5 p.m.

Game 4: at Edmonton, Thursday, 5 p.m.

Game 5: at Ducks, May 27, 6 p.m.*

Game 6: at Edmonton, May 29, 5 p.m.*

Game 7: at Ducks, May 31, 6 p.m.*