Anaheim is losing its share of lopsided games, including a stinker Sunday against the Kings. The Ducks' ace in the hole – a stellar record within the division – is slipping away.

From the start, there’s been a silver lining to the Anaheim Ducks’ up-and-down season.

Though they have never been more than four games over .500, yet never miserably behind in the standings, the Ducks’ trump card was their record against Pacific opponents. They won six of their first eight games within the division, well on their way to improving on their 7-13-4 intradivision mark from last season.

"You expect after four days off that they will be rusty in some areas," head coach Randy Carlyle said after the game, "but there was one area we were rusty in and that was competing."

So what if the Ducks have played only 39 games – part of a scheduling quirk that’s seen them play at least three games more than any other Pacific teams – it was time.

“I think it’s good, because obviously [when] we have [group] meetings or something, a lot of times the guys don’t feel comfortable to step up and talk about their own situation, or the team situation,” veteran forward Teemu Selanne told reporters.

“That’s why we have captains, but I don’t think everybody knows what’s the captain’s role,” Selanne continued. “A lot of times, some players have some issues with something and he doesn’t want to go talk to the coaches; the captains should be between. But I don’t think a lot of guys have … or they don’t want to, you know, bother the captains to be involved.”

That’s an interesting observation from a player who has seen it all and is himself an alternate captain. The Ducks don’t want for experience in the dressing room, though 25-year-old captain Ryan Getzlaf should probably take Selanne's words to heart.

Getzlaf’s play on the ice has been fine lately, but his team’s proclivity to lopsided losses isn’t what you would expect from a playoff contender. Consider that the Ducks are 3-9 in three-goal games; only the woebegone New Jersey Devils are worse.

For his part, Getzlaf sounded open to learning from his meeting with Carlyle.

“Those things are all kind of what you take out of it,” he said. “You go in with the right attitude that you’re going to talk and say what you need to say and listen to what’s being said.”

Notes

Jason LaBarbera halted the Coyotes’ losing streak at two with his fifth career, and Kyle Turris scored the game’s only goal, against the Stars on Sunday. The 1-0 win gave Phoenix a 2-3-1 record on its season-long, six-game road trip. … The game was the 1,000th of Ed Jovanovski’s NHL career. … In a 4-1 loss at San Jose on Thursday, the Coyotes became just the 10th team since the delay-of-game penalty was instituted to commit three infractions in one game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. … Check out this feature on Coyotes winger Ray Whitney, the last active NHL player from the Sharks' inaugural season. … Dallas F Loui Eriksson scored his 100th NHL goal in a 5-2 win last Tuesday over the Montreal Canadiens. … Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk told 1310-AM in Dallas that he has "every indication" the lenders currently controlling the team's pursestrings would allow him to make a trade at the trade deadline at the expense of payroll. … The Dallas Morning News reported that D Nicklas Grossman and C Tom Wandell missed Sunday's game against Phoenix with illness, did not practice Monday, and might not be ready for Tuesday's game in Nashville. Aaron Gagnon was recalled from AHL affiliate Texas as a precaution.

Photos by Getty Images

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