What we learned from the Ducks’ 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers

+ After coming to terms with the fact that they might not score many goals, the Ducks decided they’d focus on defense. That’s not going so well, either.

They gave up five goals at Brooklyn on Monday (including one into an empty net) and gave the puck away to directly set up two goals by the New York Rangers on Tuesday in the Ducks’ 3-2 overtime loss. They have 11 goals in their last eight games and have given up 20. Their goalies are under constant pressure, knowing that giving up a bad goal might create a deficit their teammates can’t overcome.

“I thought we came out of the gate great,” Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I thought we were determined…. We tightened up in the third and started making silly passes that weren’t connecting from five feet away and when that happens, usually it ends up in your net.”

+ There’s no easy fix here, not when Ryan Getzlaf has scored only one more goal than you have and he scored that goal into an empty net, so neither of you has beaten an NHL goalie this season.

Rickard Rakell was dangerous in a good way Tuesday, compared to teammates who were dangerous because they gave the puck away to the Rangers. Rakell, Getzlaf and Corey Perry were effective offensively. But no one else was.

“We didn’t get many opportunities from anybody else,” Boudreau said. “It was more that line than anybody.”

+ This won’t be a Merry Christmas for Boudreau, though it’s difficult to imagine that General Manager Bob Murray will fire him before the holiday.

Then again, no one imagined the Ducks would be in this lowly position. And they don’t play again until Sunday, which means a new coach could step in and conduct a practice Saturday before going behind the bench.

But who would take over? There’s no marquee coach available, and if Murray had wanted to give the job to one of the assistant coaches, Paul MacLean or Trent Yawney, or to minor league coach Dallas Eakins, Murray could have done that already. Murray has been patient, knowing that as bad as things have been, the Ducks have stayed within shouting distance of third place and a playoff spot in the weak Pacific Division. But the reality is that something needs to happen here, and it’s easier to fire one coach than discard 12 players.

Murray listened when players thought Randy Carlyle was too stern, and he fired Carlyle early in the 2011-12 season. Boudreau was a players’ coach, but now the pendulum has swung back to the point that they might need a taskmaster type. Murray might be reluctant to bring down the hammer again to please the players.

+ Murray has to take some blame for this mess.

Every analysis of the Ducks’ problems theorizes that Murray made too many changes last summer to a team that came within one victory of reaching the Stanley Cup final. And there’s truth to that.

But some of the moves were budget-related and unavoidable: Matt Beleskey played his way into a five-year, $19-million contract with Boston as a free agent, and 35-year-old defenseman Francois Beauchemin wanted (and got) a three-year contract worth $13.5 million from Colorado.

The problem is that the replacements Murray brought in for them — and for others such as Kyle Palmieri, who was traded to New Jersey for draft picks — have not panned out. Carl Hagelin, acquired from the Rangers for Emerson Etem, hasn’t used his speed enough offensively. Defenseman Kevin Bieksa has been slow and mistake-prone.

It’s probably not too late to salvage the season but something has to change, and soon.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen