Team Tries to Solve Shooting Woes

The Ducks have outshot the opposition by a whopping 257-195 in their last eight games. They have been outshot only twice in the last eight games.

So why aren’t they better than 2-4-1-1 in that stretch?

“We’re making the other team’s goalie into the hero too many times,” right wing Teemu Selanne said flatly.

Call it a lack of confidence or a lack of skill, but the Ducks have been pouring shots into the midsections of opposing goalies far too often. How else can you explain the opposition’s 23-17 edge in goals over the last eight games?

“It’s frustrating when you can’t score when you have so many opportunities,” Selanne said. “I think our whole team is in the middle of a slump right now.”

For instance, Selanne has been held scoreless in four consecutive games.

Left wing Paul Kariya had a goal and an assist in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, his first multiple-point game since scoring a goal and an assist in a 6-3 victory Oct. 29 against the Calgary Flames.

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For what it’s worth, the Ducks are better off this season without top-line center Steve Rucchin than they were without him last season.

When Rucchin missed 11 games last season because of an infected leg, the Ducks went 2-7-2 and dropped from among the top eight in the Western Conference last January. They are 5-5-1-1 this season without Rucchin, who missed the season’s first six games because of a broken left hand and has been sidelined for the last seven games because of a broken nose and cheekbone.

Rucchin hasn’t been ruled out for a return to the lineup Sunday against the Kings at the Arrowhead Pond, though. He skated with teammates Monday through Thursday, increasing his intensity each day.

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For what it’s worth (Part II): The Ducks’ 2-9-3-1 record over the last 15 games is their worst such stretch in the franchise’s eight-season history. The Ducks previously never had won fewer than three games over a span of 15.

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The Ducks did not practice Friday, but will today as Coach Craig Hartsburg hopes to better gauge the progress of Rucchin and goalie Guy Hebert, who has a sore left shoulder.