DUCKS WORSE THAN ISLANDERS N.Y. ISLES 4, DUCKS 2.

Byline: Greg Christensen

ANAHEIM - The Mighty Ducks have fallen in the Western Conference standings and they might not ever get back up if Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the lowly New York Islanders is any indication.

Already five points out of a playoff spot and in desperate need of two points as they head out on a rugged four-game road trip, the Ducks huffed and puffed and still lost to the second-worst team in the NHL.

And as usual, special teams played a vital role in the defeat. Anaheim was 0 for 5 on the power play and that came back to haunt the Ducks when Gino Odjick's shot from a severe angle bounced off defenseman Pavel Trnka and past Guy Hebert at 14:55 of the third period.

Judging by recent results, it was hardly a matchup of the NHL's elite. Anaheim came into the game 3-10-2 in its last 15 games and New York was 2-11-1-1 in its last 14. The Islanders also came into the game with a NHL-worst 5-14-3 mark on the road.

Trailing 2-1 midway through the second period and being outplayed by the overmatched Islanders, the Ducks got the lift they needed when Steve Rucchin blocked a point shot by Jamie Heward and started a 2-on-1 break with Paul Kariya. Rucchin slipped a pass past defenseman Kenny Jonsson and Kariya's shot just trickled into the net at 12:03 after hitting New York goalie Roberto Luongo's glove.

It was Kariya's 26th goal of the season and marked a career-high fourth consecutive game in which he has scored. The Anaheim captain has scored 12 goals in the last 12 games.

Less than a minute later, the horn went off when it appeared that Marty McInnis' backhander had given the Ducks a 3-2 lead. The replay, however, showed that the winger's shot hit the right post and didn't cross the goal line.

In the third period, the Ducks appeared to have taken the lead again. This time, however, it was ruled that Mike Leclerc kicked the puck across the goal line even though Kenny Jonsson was pulling the Anaheim winger down when it made contact with his skates at 5:51.

The Ducks had some great opportunities to break on top early, but Jeff Nielsen failed to get a shot on net at the end of a nifty three-way passing play three minutes into the game, and the power play proved to be powerless on its two chances. It was Anaheim's 26th-ranked power play unit versus New York's 26th-ranked penalty-killing unit, and the Islanders' easily won the war of special-teams futility.

The Anaheim power play had chances to put it ahead, and possibly win the game, late in the second and twice midway through the third. But once again it failed. The Ducks had trouble getting shots on goal and when they did direct pucks that way, Luongo Turned aside Teemu Selanne twice and caught another of his shots after it rang off the left post.

It took a lucky break for the Ducks to break on top at 14:16 of the first period when Selanne's shot from a bad angle deflected off the stick of defenseman Eric Cairns and bounced over the stunned Luongo.

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Photo: Anaheim's Fredrick Olausson, left, checks New York's Brad Isbister against the boards and knocks the puck loose in the first period of the Ducks' loss at home.

Michael Caulfield/Associated Press