Saku Koivu’s third-period goal was the lone highlight in a loss that further reduced the Ducks’ playoff hopes to a prayer. A four-game winning streak has vanished with back-to-back losses in Western Canada, leaving the Ducks 11 points behind the Detroit Red Wings for eighth place in the Western Conference standings.

Ryan Getzlaf vanished, too. He left down the tunnel when he fell awkwardly on his problematic left ankle in the second period. Getzlaf has already missed three games this month with injuries to the ankle.

Jonas Hiller stopped 26 of 29 shots, but was beaten by a pair of long drives by Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin in the first period. Alexandre Burrows’ 33rd goal of the season made it 3-0 in the second period, before Koivu finally made a dent in the Canucks’ lead. He took a short pass from Teemu Selanne and flicked the puck in the short side of the net past Andrew Raycroft, who got the start in favor of Roberto Luongo.

Ryan Kesler’s goal into an empty net sealed the Ducks’ loss, which ended a four-game winning streak against Vancouver dating back
to Mar. 11, 2009.

The Ducks’ record in the second end of back-to-back games dropped to 3-9-3, and their road record fell to 11-20-5. Though there won’t be nearly as much at stake, Anaheim has one more chance to improve that record – Friday in Edmonton – before coming home.