The Ducks headed on their four-game road trip with a two-game winning streak and showing some signs of positive progress. After a rare visit to New Jersey, the Ducks came out on the losing side of a 3-1 game.

It certainly helped that the Devils scored off a face-off with a puck that deflected off Jamie Langenbrunner’s stick and into the net behind Jonas Hiller just :38 seconds into the game. Getting behind the 8-ball to a team that strangles the opposition when they have the lead was not what the Ducks had planned.

Corey Perry scored the Ducks only tally at 2:25 of the second period, extending his points scoring streak to nine games, a personal best. Ryan Getzlaf’s assist on the goal kept his assist streak going as well, now at eight games in a row.

That was it for the Ducks, though, who could not convert on six power play opportunities. For a power play that had been clicking nicely in the previous games, there was just no excuse for their ineffective play with the extra man. The Ducks rarely get more power plays than the opposition and the Devils took two stupid ones by an inability to count how many men were on the ice.

More penalties than the Ducks did not deter the Devils. They killed every one of them. David Clarkson gave the Devils the lead again at 12:52 of the second. The true killer was the short-handed goal by Zach Parise with just :13 seconds left in the period. So much for the power play advantage. So much for the game.

The Devils merely had to tighten their defense, and Martin Brodeur performed exceptionally well in goal, stopping 31 of 32 shots, again a rare time that the Ducks have outshot their opponent. New Jersey excels at this and the when Hiller was pulled for the extra attacker, the Ducks could not even get set up in the Devils zone.

The Ducks now head off to Columbus on Friday and Detroit on Saturday in back-to-back games. Columbus will be wanting to redeem themselves after having been spanked by the Red Wings this evening, 9-1, in front of a home crowd. Taking it out on the Ducks will seem like a really good idea and the Ducks need to be ready for that.

In other notes: Saku Koivu sat out the game with a lower body injury suffered in the morning skate. Erik Christensen, who had cleared waivers a short time ago but remained with the team, was inserted into the line-up and filled in for Koivu on the second line. Jean-Sebastien Giguere backed up the net for the first time since re-injuring his groin on October 24. He is expected to share the goaltending duties in the upcoming back-to-backs.