Ducks’ 6-2 Setback Is Tough One to Figure

The emphatic statement the Mighty Ducks were looking for to close out a successful homestand had all the impact of a yawn.

The Ducks turned in an uninspired effort as their four-game winning streak ended Tuesday in a 6-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Arrowhead Pond.

“Obviously, we didn’t play well tonight,” left wing Todd Fedoruk said. “I don’t know what to say. It was a frustrating game.”

In giving up a season-high total of goals, they were done in by a pair of guys named Adams -- one a low-scoring center with a penchant for hat tricks and the other a journeyman forward who spent his training camp looking for a job with the Ducks.

Kevyn Adams had his second three-goal game of the season, and Craig Adams assisted on all of them as the two chased red-hot goalie Ilya Bryzgalov in the second period.

“That’s not an easy one to push aside,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We got frustrated when we got down. We didn’t react like a team that’s having success.”

Rod Brind’Amour also had three assists for the Hurricanes, who held on to their slim lead in the Southeast Division ahead of reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay.

Goalie Martin Gerber was strong in stopping 35 shots in his first game against his former team. He shut out the Ducks until Rob Niedermayer’s goal 7 minutes 46 seconds into the third period.

Gerber backed up Jean-Sebastien Giguere the last two seasons but wanted an opportunity to be the lead goalie and found one in Carolina after being traded.

“It was special to come back into your old building,” Gerber said. “You want to do well. Things went good tonight, and I’m very happy about that.”

The Ducks figured to do well against a Carolina team that was on the third stop of a five-game Western trip and reeling from an 8-4 loss to Phoenix on Saturday. The Ducks looked like the team that was weary from jet lag.

Kevyn Adams one-timed a pass from Craig Adams just 2:45 into the game and later walked out from behind the net and backhanded a shot past Bryzgalov at 18:49 of the first for a 2-0 lead.

Adams completed his hat trick with a short-handed goal on a breakaway in the second. The veteran center’s other three goals this season came Nov. 17 against the New York Rangers.

Meanwhile, the Ducks were in disarray. Bryzgalov angrily fired a clearing pass that accidentally hit his teammate Francois Beauchemin, and Carlyle pulled the rookie on the next stoppage in favor of Giguere.

“Today was a tough game from the start,” Bryzgalov said. “We made lots of mistakes and [had] lots of turnovers.”

Giguere, playing his first game since Nov. 20, hardly could stem the tide as Bret Hedican punched in a pass from Brind’Amour on a two-on-one rush for their second short-handed goal of the period. Justin Williams and Eric Staal added third-period goals to complete the rout.

The Ducks’ lone highlight came with 3:28 remaining when Beauchemin scored his first NHL goal in his sixth game with the team since coming over from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Sergei Fedorov trade.