Ducks get the point but aren’t happy

In the end, it’s a point that the Ducks got and it may prove critical in their chase for the Pacific Division title and the top seeding in the Western Conference.

But the Ducks weren’t overjoyed about their effort Wednesday night, and the absence of injured veterans Chris Pronger and Todd Marchant were never more noticeable than against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Ducks overcame several defensive miscues as a late third-period goal by Chris Kunitz forced overtime, but they couldn’t convert in the extra period or shootout in losing, 5-4, at the Honda Center.

Their chance at an undefeated homestand was ruined by Columbus forward David Vyborny, who got the only goal in the fifth round when he deked Jean-Sebastien Giguere and lifted a wrist shot over the goaltender.

“We’re always happy to get a point at this time of the year,” said Giguere, who made 23 saves. “They’re all important. But I don’t think we should be happy with the way we played tonight. We didn’t have the level of emotion that we should have had.”

Despite stretching their lead in the Pacific to nine points over Dallas and San Jose, the Ducks (42-17-12) had little to savor except for two goals by Francois Beauchemin against his former team and Kunitz’s late heroics.

The Blue Jackets won’t experience playoff hockey for the sixth consecutive year since their inception, but they continue to give the Ducks fits. Despite entering the game with an NHL-low 169 goals, Nikolai Zherdev put two past Giguere, while Fredrik Modin and Rick Nash each had one.

Many of their 27 shots came on good scoring chances as the Ducks played fast and loose in their own end without Pronger, who will probably be out another week or two with a broken left toe.

“We probably didn’t deserve any tonight the way we played,” Beauchemin said. “We turned the puck over and it seemed like we missed some plays. We have to refocus and get ready for Friday” against Chicago.

With 1 minute 50 seconds remaining in regulation, the Ducks won the puck along the boards in the Blue Jackets’ zone and Teemu Selanne fed Kunitz, who scored his 23rd goal of the season.

The Ducks had all seven shots in overtime, but Columbus goalie Fredrik Norrena was up to the task. Norrena made 34 saves and then made stops on the Ducks’ first four choices in the shootout.

“I think we had to play the whole game like we played the last 10 or 12 minutes,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “The desperation we were able to display then was absent early for whatever reason.”

Beauchemin’s first goal gave the Ducks a 2-1 second-period lead, as his point shot managed to squeak through the legs of Norrena as Getzlaf provided a well-timed screen.

The lead was brief; Zherdev scored goals 1:03 apart on lapses by the Ducks. The first came on a two-on-one rush and the second occurred when the Ducks couldn’t clear the puck in front of Giguere. Rookie center Tim Brent who has been playing in place of the injured Marchant, was on the ice for both goals. Marchant sat out his 12th consecutive game with a strained stomach muscle.

Beauchemin came through again when he jumped up and rocketed a one-time shot off a setup pass by Samuel Pahlsson. The defenseman’s only other two-goal game came Jan. 23, 2006, against the Kings.

Midway through the first period, Corey Perry got his second goal in three games when he rang in a bad-angle shot off Norrena, but the Ducks’ defense soon sprang a leak.

Giguere was able to keep it close with saves on several good scoring chances by the Blue Jackets, but he couldn’t get in front of a rebound to Modin.

eric.stephens@latimes.com