Struggling Ducks lose to the Oilers again, 4-0

In a dark sense, the Ducks found some level of consistency Sunday night.

Another shot at the Edmonton Oilers turned out just as bad as it did two nights before, with this debacle decided by a 4-0 score that had many among the sellout crowd of 17,174 at the Honda Center heading for the exit well before the final horn sounded.

If the Ducks’ 5-1 loss Friday night in Edmonton was a horror show, then Sunday in Anaheim turned out to be a chilling sequel. And the frost was felt in a cold dressing room afterward.

“We’ve got to keep things in perspective,� Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “At the end of the day, the sun’s going to come up. We’ve got to realize that it’s a game and we need to have fun. We’re just not having fun right now.�

The Ducks (12-12-4) are still only four points out of the Pacific Division lead, but they’ve won only two of their last seven games and don’t appear to be a group that has many answers at the moment.

“We’re the only guys, the guys in this room, that are going to turn this around,� forward Rob Niedermayer said. “We’ve just got to stay positive and work our way out of this. It’s an old cliche but it starts in practice. You’ve got to have good habits there and carry them over.�

It’s gotten to the point where Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle is resorting to benching veterans. Center Todd Marchant was a healthy scratch for the first time since coming to Anaheim two years ago and defenseman Shane Hnidy was also kept out of the lineup.

“I felt that for various reasons, for each of the individuals, I feel we need more,� Carlyle said. “Basically, that’s the way I go with it. My expectations are higher for both individuals.�

Marchant declined to speak with reporters but the Ducks’ woeful efforts in consecutive games against a subpar Oilers team spoke for themselves.

Edmonton came into the game with the third-fewest points in the Western Conference but it was in control from the outset and a third win in as many tries against the defending Stanley Cup champions wasn’t much of a chore.

Raffi Torres scored on a rebound midway through the first period and Dustin Penner got his first goal against his former teammates, when a shot by Robert Nilsson deflected off the stick of Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin and ricocheted off Penner’s mouth past Giguere.

“It’s probably the nicest goal I’ve had in a while,� said Penner, who has just five goals and 13 points since signing a $21.25-million offer sheet with Edmonton in the off-season. “It’s the only one I’ve had in a while.�

Joni Pitkanen and Tom Gilbert added goals in the second and former Kings goalie Mathieu Garon made 25 saves for his second shutout with the Oilers and 12th in his career.

Carlyle said he would give the Ducks today off after recognizing they didn’t have their usual gusto after arriving home Saturday at 4 a.m. and practicing later that day after their loss in Edmonton.

“We couldn’t garner any emotional energy whatsoever,� he said. “The analysis that I took out of it is it’s not like they didn’t try. It seems like our gas tank was empty. Emotionally, physically and mentally.�

Oilers winger Fernando Pisani played his first game since April 7, 2007, after suffering a case of ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disorder that caused him to lose nearly 30 pounds. . . . Ducks defenseman Joe DiPenta made his first appearance since Nov. 17.

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