Ducks Team Report

INSIDE SHOTS

After opening a season-high, seven-game homestand with four victories in the first five games, the Ducks might have given the impression that they were on the brink of getting back into the Stanley Cup playoff race in the NHL’s Western Conference.

Not so fast.

Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, on the heels of a 3-2, overtime defeat at the hands of the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday, left the Ducks still in 13th place in the West, seven points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

Perhaps more telling, the losses to Phoenix and Los Angeles left the Ducks with an ugly 1-4-2 mark within their own division. Not surprisingly, the Ducks are last in the Pacific, seven points behind both the Coyotes and Dallas Stars, heading into a Thursday night game at Dallas.

“The last two teams we’ve played had solid games,” Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer(notes) said. “They played games that didn’t give up a lot and didn’t make many mistakes.”

The Ducks certainly can’t say the same, not after being outshot 42-30 by the Kings and being charged with 13 giveaways compared to one for Los Angeles.

“It’s tough,” left wing Bobby Ryan(notes) said. “We gave ourselves a chance. Todd Marchant(notes) goes out and gets us a goal that was a huge emotional boost for us. They came right down and scored not too long afterward. We’ve done that numerous times this year. It’s something we’ve addressed and gone over a number of times, but it seems to keep happening.”

Nothing is likely to change unless the Ducks can figure out a way to win games against divisional foes.

Kings 4, Ducks 3:   Brad Richardson’s(notes) re-direction of a point shot by defenseman Jack Johnson(notes) at 17:40 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and ruined a Ducks comeback from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits. Corey Perry(notes) led the Ducks with a goal and an assist, extending his franchise-record scoring streak to 19 consecutive games in the process. Ryan Whitney(notes), on the power play, and Todd Marchant also scored goals in the losing effort, while Ryan Getzlaf(notes) picked up two assists. Richardson and defenseman Randy Jones(notes) had a goal and an assist apiece for the Kings, who outshot the Ducks 42-30. Scott Parse(notes) and Justin Williams(notes) also scored goals for Los Angeles, with Johnson picking up two assists. Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller(notes), making his first appearance in five games, registered 38 saves.

NOTES, QUOTES

• LW Kyle Chipchura(notes), the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round pick in 2004, was acquired by the Ducks Wednesday for a fourth-round draft pick in 2011. They lost C Erik Christensen(notes) on waivers to the New York Rangers.

• RW Corey Perry continues to put up the points no matter whether the Ducks win or lose. With a goal and an assist in Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to visiting Los Angeles, Perry extended his franchise-record scoring streak to 19 games. It is the longest run in the NHL since Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby(notes) had a 19-game streak from Oct. 6 to Nov. 17, 2007. The last player to have a point streak of 20 games was Colorado center Paul Stastny(notes) from Feb. 3 to March 17, 2007. Perry also stretched his assist streak to 10 games, matching the club record established by center Ryan Getzlaf earlier this season, from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14. The only other NHL player with a 10-game assist streak this season was Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis(notes), from Oct. 6 to 31. Perry also owns a 14-game home scoring streak, during which he has seven goals and 20 points.

• After acquiring LW Evgeny Artyukhin(notes) from the Tampa Bay Lightning in an offseason trade, the Ducks have worked with the hulking Russian to rein in a habit of bad penalties that got nearly out of control early in the season. The effort had appeared to pay off, Artyukhin taking only three minor penalties during an 18-game stretch since he took three penalties in a 5-0 loss to visiting St. Louis on Oct. 17. Artyukhin, though, was guilty of slashing, holding and tripping penalties, all in the offensive zone, during Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to visiting Los Angeles. The lone Kings power-play conversion, after the Artyukhin holding infraction, wound up being the difference in the game.

Quote To Note:   “It was hard because we pulled even. But if you look at the game as a whole, we gave them a start there and had to battle back. You can’t do that every time. You can’t count on coming back and winning the game in a shootout or overtime. We were there and had that opportunity, but it didn’t go our way. We have to get back to playing the way we were prior to these last couple of games.”—Team captain Scott Niedermayer after the Ducks battled back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, only to fall to the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 Tuesday night at Honda Center.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltenders:   Jean-Sebastien Giguere(notes), Jonas Hiller

Defensemen:   Scott Niedermayer, Ryan Whitney, James Wisniewski(notes), Nick Boynton(notes), Steve Eminger(notes), Brendan Mikkelson(notes)

First Line:   Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry

Second Line:   Evgeny Artyukhin, Saku Koivu(notes), Teemu Selanne(notes)

Third Line:   Matt Beleskey(notes), Todd Marchant, Petteri Nokelainen(notes)

Fourth Line:   Mike Brown, MacGregor Sharp(notes), George Parros(notes)

Player Notes:  

• C Ryan Getzlaf’s two assists gave him 300 career points, including 93 goals. Getzlaf has two goals and three assists in the last five games as well as five goals and 27 points in the last 19 games.

• LW Matt Beleskey, appearing in his second game since being recalled Sunday from the Toronto Marlies of the American League and his seventh career NHL game, recorded his first point with an assist on a third-period goal by C Todd Marchant.

Medical Watch:  

• LW Kyle Calder(notes) has missed the last two games and is expected to be sidelined at least until mid-December and perhaps into January after being struck in the face with a deflected puck during practice Nov. 28. Calder suffered bleeding in the front of his left eye, technically termed hyphema. Calder had appeared in six games since signing a free agent contract and being recalled from Bakersfield of the ECHL.

• RW Joffrey Lupul(notes) has sat out the last six games and has yet to return to the ice because of back spasms. Lupul also experienced back spasms during training camp but had appeared in each of Anaheim’s first 20 games this season.

• C Ryan Carter(notes), who has missed the last 10 games, has been diagnosed with a broken bone in his right foot and is expected to be sidelined until late December. An additional X-ray, taken when the injury did not show any improvement, revealed the fracture, which resulted from a shot that struck Carter during a Nov. 12 practice in Columbus.