Morrison continues his emergence in win

The Ducks took care of business on the ice, while General Manager Bob Murray fiddled with the books off it. Neither was a monumental moment, though both were small steps forward.

The Ducks squandered a two-goal lead, then gritted out a 4-2 victory Sunday over the slumping Minnesota Wild. Brendan Morrison continued to pick up speed, scoring his second game-winning goal in three games.

Murray, meanwhile, loosened up a little salary-cap money by trading forward Brian Sutherby to the Dallas Stars for David McIntyre, who is still at Colgate University, and a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft.

That left the Ducks a bit fatter financially. They are about $1.1 million under the $56.7-million salary cap, Murray said.

Whether there will be further deals to perk up a team that has struggled for consistency remains to be seen. But Murray seemed less than satisfied with the Ducks’ ability to compete with elite teams, using Friday’s 2-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks as an example.

“We had 15 guys who played their butts off,” Murray said. “But to beat San Jose, you need 18 guys playing their butts off, 15 is not going to get it done.”

Murray had been looking to move a one-way contract -- a player who gets the same money whether he is in the NHL or the minor leagues -- and Sutherby was attractive to the Stars.

“We had too many guys with one-way contracts,” Murray said. “Someone in that group had to go. Competition is good and not everyone needs to think their jobs are guaranteed. We didn’t win the Stanley Cup last season, we won it two years ago.”

The Ducks see enough ability in the dressing room to be successful.

“We have the guys here to get this done,” said goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who made 26 saves. “I don’t think they need to change the team too much. . . . But I’m not the GM.”

Still, the Ducks are only 3-3 in the last six games, including losses to NHL front-runners San Jose and Detroit.

Murray was not ready to address specific needs.

“I’m not sure yet,” Murray said. “We’re still only 30 games into the season. I’ll need another 10-15 games to critique things and then decide what I need to do.”

Scoring from the second line would be an area that might concern him. That, though, has looked a little better in the last week, as Morrison continues to move forward from knee surgery last March.

The Ducks took a quick 2-0 lead on Ice Capades-type goals. Ryan Getzlaf did some freestyle skating around two Wild defenders, then flicked a wrist shot for a 1-0 lead 1 minute 38 seconds into the game. Five minutes later, Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry tapped the puck back and forth around bewildered Wild players before Perry scored for a 2-0 lead.

But the Wild, which had not scored more than two goals in a game since Dec. 3, had two by early in the second period, one after a cross-checking penalty by the Ducks’ Travis Moen.

After Eric Belanger tied the score two minutes into the second period, Morrison got the Ducks back on track. Morrison, who had one goal in his first 27 games, barreled up ice and managed to redirect a pass from Todd Marchant for a 3-2 lead.

“It’s a good sign,” Morrison said. “It was a little adversity for this group tonight. We were able to respond.”

--

chris.foster@latimes.com