Canucks spin out the Ducks

VANCOUVER, CANADA —  There are inherent problems in saying that the Ducks have turned the corner, aided by the return of defenseman Scott Niedermayer and addition of center Doug Weight.

A corner or a blind curve?

The possibility of slamming into a wall is often there after turning the corner, something practically bound to occur once the giddy sense of reconnection wears off and reality settles in.

Reality hit the Ducks in Canada after they lost for the second time in less than 24 hours. The Canucks beat the Ducks, 2-1, Sunday, at GM Place, making it their third victory in three games between the teams this season.

“I think that tonight and last night was an indication to us of how much work we have ahead of us, “ Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “Even with Scott Niedermayer.

“The honeymoon’s over.”

This loss was the opposite of the defeat Saturday in Calgary, in which the Ducks played effectively and dominated through the first period and into the second before squandering a 3-1 lead.

Here, they tried to push the pace too late. Vancouver, which is 10-0-2 in its last 12 games at home, was led by goals from Daniel Sedin, who scored on a two-man advantage, at 10:28 of the first period and Matt Cooke at 4:18 of the second. The Ducks could have trailed by more if not for backup goalie Jonas Hiller’s early sharpness.

The Ducks went nearly 50 minutes before solving Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. He faced 17 shots before the Ducks scored on their 18th with Ryan Getzlaf (14th goal of the season) putting it past him on the stick side with a blast from the left circle at 9:43 of the third period.

“I didn’t think we got enough traffic in front of him,” Carlyle said of Luongo. “We were guilty of swinging by and not staying in front of the net. We were doing the fly-by with him.”

Help could come in the form of center Samuel Pahlsson (abdominal injury) returning to the lineup when the team returns to Anaheim for a two-game homestand. Carlyle was not sure whether he would be back Wednesday against Columbus.

There’s that possibility. And there were other promising developments, such as a solid performance from enforcer George Parros in Calgary and Vancouver. But it goes without saying that the post-honeymoon era will need a little more substance, though Getzlaf characterized the impact a bit differently.

“Those guys coming was more of a settling thing than a boost,” Getzlaf said.

Niedermayer was asked whether the “training-camp” portion of the season was over for him. “Hopefully,” he said. “You never know. Knock on wood. I mean, it’s a game where it’s tough physically. But hopefully I’m out of the . . . “

A reporter interrupted him with a question, so he didn’t finish the answer. Presumably, he was going to say woods, not anything about turning the corner.

Among the leading tasks on the to-do list of Ducks General Manager Brian Burke when he gets back to Anaheim on Jan. 7: signing right winger Corey Perry to a long-term contract. He is aiming for a short timetable.

“Yep, I think these things can really fester and have an adverse effect on the player,” Burke said.

Burke, former president and general manager of the Canucks, is almost the unofficial mayor of Vancouver. And at the game, he was entertaining Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti, who has been following the Ducks on this three-game trip to western Canada with several of his staff members. Colletti, who in his sportswriting days covered the Philadelphia Flyers, said this was both indulging in his “great love of hockey” and a Dodgers “team-building exercise.”

“This is the one week out of the year where baseball slows down,” he said.

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