Jonas Hiller’s mystery illness adds to woes for Ducks in 7-6 loss

The Ducks already hurdled one obstacle between themselves and the playoffs, surviving captain Ryan Getzlaf’s injury with aplomb.

Now there’s a more unsettling situation. Jonas Hiller, their All-Star goalie, is out at least three games with a recurrence of the mysterious lightheadedness that already cost him three games.

With Hiller placed on injured reserve again Wednesday as he undergoes tests, the Ducks lost a wild 7-6 game to Washington at the Honda Center that the team hopes is no omen.

“Horrible,” defenseman Toni Lydman called it.

“Unacceptable,” Coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Capitals’ Alexander Semin scored his third goal of the game with 1:47 remaining in the third period when he was allowed to skate in alone from behind the net and beat Curtis McElhinney, Hiller’s replacement, with a backhander. McElhinney gave up seven goals on 31 shots, but also was plagued by defensive errors and giveaways in front of him, including a rare costly one by Teemu Selanne.

“A better performance was needed from me tonight, and it wasn’t there,” McElhinney said.

Hiller’s condition is not yet as frightening to the Ducks as Lydman’s unexplained double-vision at the beginning of the season. Lydman was cleared and has thrived, although there was no conclusive reason for his symptoms.

“It’s the uncertainty of the situation that’s frustrating,” said Lydman, who has talked to Hiller briefly.

The exams Hiller has undergone or is scheduled to face include a heart monitor, a balance test and a consultation with a chiropractor. A team spokesman said all results had been negative as of earlier Wednesday, with tests continuing Thursday as the Ducks leave Hiller behind for a two-game trip to Minnesota and St. Louis.

Concerns about Hiller first came to the fore after a shaky performance in a Feb. 2 loss to San Jose, after which Hiller said he “didn’t feel that well.”

Hit twice on the mask during the All-Star weekend, Hiller was cleared of concussion issues but was placed on injured reserve because of dizziness and fatigue. He returned and started at Edmonton on Sunday, recording a shutout.

Washington countered McElhinney with two 22-year-old goalies, replacing Semyon Varlamov with Michal Neuvirth to start the second period after Varlamov gave up three goals in the first, two in the final two minutes.

The game highlights included Alexander Ovechkin’s 22nd goal of the season for Washington after he put a move on Andreas Lilja to go in alone, and a shorthanded breakaway by the Ducks’ Corey Perry for his 29th goal. The Ducks’ Getzlaf and Perry each had four points on a goal and three assists in the losing effort.

“I’m terribly disappointed in our hockey game from the standpoint of it just seemed like we lost all of our focus of the things we’ve done the previous three weeks or month,” Carlyle said. “When you score six goals, you should win the hockey game, that’s for sure.”

Etc.

The Ducks traded seldom-used defenseman Paul Mara to Montreal for a fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft after the game.

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