Ducks unravel in the second

EDMONTON, Canada -- All Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle could do as the horn sounded to end the second period was stare out at center ice and try to comprehend what had happened only moments before.

The Ducks spent nearly half the period on the power play, yet a tied score turned into a two-goal deficit only seconds before intermission.

Stung by goals from Shawn Horcoff and Kyle Brodziak in the final 37 seconds of the period, the Ducks were done when the Edmonton Oilers tacked on two more in the third Friday night, rolling to a 5-1 victory at Rexall Place.

And so the Ducks’ erratic pattern continues. Since their four-game winning streak last month, it has been loss, shootout loss, win, loss, win, loss.

“I think one of our biggest problems has been keeping an even keel,� defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. “We went out, played a great second period, took the play to them for 19 minutes. They scored one goal and all of a sudden, you can feel a letdown on the bench.

“We have to play the same way no matter what happens out there. Whether we’re up two, up three, down one, down two. And we haven’t been able to do that.�

The teams traded goals in the first, with Edmonton’s Alex Hemsky and the Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf scoring.

But in the second, the Ducks couldn’t score on four consecutive power plays, including a five-on-three advantage for 1:23 as Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson foiled them, including a critical pad save on a one-timer by Getzlaf. Roloson made 21 stops in all.

Considering the Ducks had only three power plays in the last two games, it was a huge opportunity lost.

“You don’t how many power plays you’re going to get, and you need to capitalize on them when you get those opportunities,� Ducks captain Chris Pronger said.

By the time the Oilers killed the last of the them with 1:12 left in the second, they held all the momentum. And they would take only 35 seconds to strike on that.

Former Ducks winger Dustin Penner took a long slap shot that hit high off the glass behind the net. The puck took an odd bounce directly into the slot, where Horcoff snapped a shot past Jean-Sebastien Giguere at the 19:23 mark.

“It’s one of those things,� Carlyle said. “But those are the things that have been going against our hockey club.�

The back-breaker was delivered by Brodziak 26 seconds later. Marty Reasoner won a battle for the puck behind the net and fed the fourth-line center out in front for an easy punch-in.

Andrew Cogliano and Steve Staios piled on with goals in the third as the Ducks (12-11-4) seemed more interested in riling up the Oilers with a rematch on Sunday than trying to create any offense for a comeback. Brian Sutherby, Shane Hnidy and Travis Moen all took roughing penalties and George Parros got a 10-minute misconduct and incited the sellout crowd of 16,839 as he left the ice.

“The type of penalties we took in the third are unacceptable,� Carlyle said. “If we want to get involved and engage people physically, I’d rather do it in the first five minutes than the last 10 minutes of a 5-1 hockey game. To me, that just cheapens us.

“I addressed a few things.�

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Center Mark Mowers, who was waived on Tuesday, was assigned to SC Bern of the Swiss National League, which will pay the rest of his $475,000 salary for this season. . . . Forward Todd Bertuzzi was hit in the left leg on a shot by Schneider in the third period but he returned late, suffering only a bruise, Carlyle said.

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