‘Road Warriors’ Failing at Home

The Ducks like their reputation as road warriors, but when asked about their tendency to flounder on home ice.

“If I gave you an answer for why we’ve been playing like this at home, I’d be lying through my teeth,” Duck Coach Pierre Page said. “If I had the answer, we wouldn’t be playing like this. We’ll look at the tapes of scoring chances for and against, at home and on the road, and see what we can come up with.”

The Ducks were 14-1-4 in their last 19 games in the Pond last season, but they are 2-6-3 in their building this season and 0-3-1 in the last four games.

“I think we feel more comfortable on the road because we don’t have to impress anybody,” Scott Young said.

Defenseman J.J. Daigneault said the key to the Ducks’ success on the road has been a focus on fundamentals. “We can’t kid ourselves, we’re not the most talented team in the NHL,” he said. “We have to work harder than the other guys to win.

“I think when we’re on the road, we don’t feel like we have to put on a show and we just get down to basics.”

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Center Steve Rucchin wasn’t ready to give the Stars’ defensive tactics all the credit.

“It was just a very soft game on our part,” he said. “Personally, I think this loss had as much to do with our lack of heart as Dallas’ trap.”