East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - After losing the Stanley Cup Finals opener on Tuesday, the theme in the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim dressing room was that the team's 10-day layoff between series wasn't the reason for an impotent offensive performance.

Turns out the Ducks were right, because the club was just as inept in Game 2 on Thursday night after only one day of rest.

Anaheim could again manage just 16 shots -- two in the second period -- in another 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils at the Meadowlands, and will now return to Orange County in an 0-2 series hole. And it isn't even as if there was a positive to dwell on during the plane ride back to California, as the Ducks have been thoroughly beaten in every aspect and are living up to their status as a seventh seed.

"We're not competing as hard as they are competing," said Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere. "We're all about competing. We're not a team that is overly skilled. Our game is all about working hard, try to out-work the other team."

Giguere, who allowed three goals on 25 shots, offered us a microcosm of the Ducks' psyche as a team when he cracked his stick across the goal after allowing the Devils' third tally on a Jeff Friesen backhander in the final period. After showing tremendous poise throughout the spring, the 26-year-old netminder let his frustration out in the open, which is the antithesis of what Anaheim has been about this postseason.

A guy who could have joined Giguere on the stick-wielding circuit is Anaheim captain Paul Kariya, who has, to put it mildly, been shut down to this point. Kariya, former Devil Petr Sykora and veteran center Adam Oates, the team's top three offensive options, did not record a shot between them Thursday night after combining for a mere three in Game 1.

"Obviously, I can't have a game without any shots," said Kariya. "I have to generate more offensively. As a team we can't get out of our system and what's got us here. We can't open up and run and gun with these guys. They'll eat us apart. We have to be patient."

Both games of this series have seen the teams skate to a scoreless first period before the Devils broke the ice with a dominating middle frame. And once the Devils get a lead, we all know that it is nearly impossible to skate through their molasses-like defense.

"It's very important," Kariya said of jumping on top of Jersey early. "I think in the [Eastern Conference finals against Ottawa] that every team that was the first team that scored, won the game. I think we have to get a goal early and get them to open up a little bit and turn the tides on them."

And making matters worse for the Ducks is that the Devils continue to receive offensive contributions from all sides of their roster. On Thursday, it was Scott Gomez and Patrik Elias breaking personal slumps, while Friesen tallied for the sixth time in the past eight games.

In summation, it appears the tables have turned on the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. They advanced to the championship round because they, especially Giguere, were able to invade the heads of Detroit, Dallas and Minnesota. Well, the New Jersey Devils are now in the Ducks' minds and aren't likely to exit easily.

After their Game 2 loss, the players offered cliches like "staying strong" and "work harder," but one has to wonder if deep down inside they are a beaten club that has taken its magical ride as far as possible. I guess we will see when they host their first-ever Cup Finals game on Saturday night in front of what should still be a raucous crowd at the Pond.