Reeling Ducks lose to Oilers, 4-1

The air of confidence that surrounded the Ducks for the first three months of the season has floated away, now replaced by a strong smell of frustration.

No more superlatives can be used with this group after their latest loss Thursday night, a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place that marked their eighth in the last 10 games.

The Ducks (30-11-8) are no longer the best team in the NHL, with Nashville winning to take over the top spot in the Western Conference. Of immediate concern is their psyche as they play Calgary tonight before the All-Star break.

“We’re not playing with that confident attitude that we had,” center Ryan Getzlaf said. “And we’ve got to find it. That’s half the battle.”

The Ducks are 2-6-2 since Dec. 26 when they lost goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and defenseman Francois Beauchemin in the same game. Two games later, Chris Pronger was also injured.

But they aren’t alone when it comes to injuries. . Edmonton didn’t have skilled winger Ales Hemsky or top defenseman Steve Staios and lost center Jarret Stoll to a fractured nose in the first period.

It didn’t stop the Oilers from getting decisive goals from light-scoring Jason Smith and Toby Petersen against Ilya Bryzgalov 27 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the second period. Ryan Smyth added two in the third period to break it open.

“When you’re struggling the way we’re struggling right now, it seems like you have to play 60 minutes to win a game,” defenseman Sean O’Donnell said. “Early on, we were getting away with it. In the first couple of months, we’d turn it on in the third period and get a win or make some mistakes and come back and win.

“It just seems like right now, we’re in one of those funks where we’ve got to play hard for 60 minutes. Not just hard but smart. I thought we played hard, but we’ve got things that have crept into our game that we haven’t seen all year.”

The Ducks came out with a far stronger effort than Tuesday’s night debacle against St. Louis. Teemu Selanne jumped on a turnover by the Oilers’ Marc-Andre Bergeron and scored his league-leading 30th goal in the first period.

But they also missed on several early opportunities for a bigger lead. They had a potential five-on-three power play cut short when Chris Kunitz was called for interfering with Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson.

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle suggested Roloson uses certain tactics to gain favor with the referees.

“The acrobatic Dwayne Roloson strikes again,” Carlyle said before cutting short a postgame interview session. “It’s amazing but that’s what you got to deal with and move on.”

Like he did in the Oilers’ five-game victory in last season’s conference finals, Roloson repeatedly foiled the Ducks, making 23 saves. By contrast, Bryzgalov made just 16 saves; he is 2-4-2 in eight starts since returning from a groin injury.

Smyth, an All-Star selection for the first time, added his 22nd and 23rd goals as a result of crashing the net. With the first, the puck hit off his skate and Selanne’s as the two jostled in front.

“Our coach preaches if you go to the net, good things happen,” O’Donnell said. “That’s what the guy does.”

The Ducks are hoping that the cavalry is coming soon. Giguere took another round of shots in the team’s morning skate but he still isn’t available. The veteran’s return will largely depend on whether he is able to go through a full practice when the team is back on the ice Thursday after the break.

Pronger’s broken left foot is healing but he’ll be faced with the same question. “He’s had skates on and walked around with no pain,” Carlyle said. “The next step will be to get on the ice.”

It’s also the next step for Beauchemin, who has yet to be cleared to work out as he awaits test results on his injured spleen.

But that’s all in the future. The problem is the present.

“We need to get that little bit of momentum to swing back in our favor going into the break,” Getzlaf said. “Come out of the break with our healthy bodies and get going again.”

TONIGHT

at Calgary, 6, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Pengrowth Saddledome.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 30-11-8; Flames 24-17-4.

Record vs. Flames -- 2-1-0.

Update -- The Ducks won twice at Calgary in their seven-game playoff series victory last spring but haven’t done it in the regular season since March 4, 2003. Known traditionally as a low-scoring team, the Flames have scored 140 goals to rank sixth in the Western Conference. Calgary captain Jarome Iginla injured his left knee Jan. 4 and will not be back until after the break. Iginla leads the Flames in goals (23), assists (30) and points (53).

eric.stephens@latimes.com