Ducks Taken Down in Shootout

Maybe the Mighty Ducks will wind up erasing their current four-point deficit and squeeze their way into the Western Conference playoffs. Maybe their 3-2 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday will just fade into the woodwork of a hockey season.

But then maybe it will become one of those losses that will be looked back at with disdain when the regular season is done and the Ducks are on the outside looking in as the postseason begins.

As their opportunities came and went in regulation and overtime at the Arrowhead Pond, the defeat against a team far below .500 was tough to swallow in losing ground to the eighth-place Edmonton Oilers, who defeated Nashville in overtime.

“We need these points,” center Andy McDonald said. “The way this conference is going, it’s probably going to be a point difference for that last playoff spot.”

It was the Ducks’ second loss to the Blue Jackets this season and marked their second loss on their current four-game homestand. On Dec. 28 at Columbus, Marc Denis made 40 saves in a 1-0 victory.

With Denis having been in the net the day before against the Kings, it was Pascal Leclaire’s turn to frustrate the Ducks. Leclaire made a number of big stops among his 43 saves and then turned aside McDonald, Chris Kunitz and Teemu Selanne in the shootout.

Leclaire made a stand in overtime as he made four saves and helped kill off a power play the Ducks received on Duvie Westcott’s cross-checking penalty.

“We had some good opportunities to get the win there,” McDonald said. “It’s a bit of a letdown.”

The game moved to a shootout, and the advantage couldn’t have been more one-sided in favor of Columbus. The Blue Jackets, who have won seven of nine shootouts, are a league-leading 11-2 in overtime and the Ducks’ 3-12 mark is the NHL’s worst.

Rick Nash provided the only goal after he momentarily lost the puck on his approach before recovering to slip it past Jean-Sebastien Giguere after Giguere made saves on shots by Nikolai Zherdev and David Vyborny.

“It looked like the puck kind of bounced on him,” said Giguere, who made 32 saves. “I feel like he got lucky there. I just went down and couldn’t get a foot across.”

Said Nash: “I came down and had a different move in mind. He kind of took that away, so I had to adjust quickly. I kind of lost my balance, but lucky enough, I stayed up and put it in.”

Things could have been worse for the Ducks (28-20-12). They managed to secure a point on McDonald’s heroics with 2 minutes 24 seconds left in regulation.

Scott Niedermayer took a shot from point that Leclaire made a save on but left a rebound in the slot. McDonald followed up and took a shot that Leclaire stopped, but the center stayed with the loose puck and tucked it between the goaltender’s legs.

“We got a big point from the goal Mac scored,” Giguere said. “Any point is going to be very important, so we should be happy about that.”

The Ducks won’t be happy about another slow start in their third game after the Olympic break. They had only two shots on goal in the first 12 minutes and had only a sliver of life after Ryan Getzlaf’s power-play goal at 16:30 of the period.

Power-play tallies by Jaroslav Balastik and Zherdev in the first period put Columbus ahead, 2-1.

“Points are too important now, and we’ve got to find a way to shake ourselves out of these doldrums early,” Coach Randy Carlyle said.