The power play has masked many of the Blue Jackets' deficiencies this season, but it couldn't rescue a lackluster performance last night.

A 52-second 5-on-3 advantage in the third period evaporated without a shot on goal, wasting a chance for the Blue Jackets to tie the score and gain crucial points in the standings against the last-place club in the Western Conference. Instead, they lost 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks before 14,461 in Nationwide Arena.

"This is a team that's behind us in the standings," Blue Jackets forward R.J. Umberger said. "No reason we shouldn't win at home against that team. We needed those two points, badly."

Umberger scored late in the second period for the Blue Jackets' only goal, his 10th of the season. Goaltender Steve Mason had 22 saves.

The Ducks had lost nine in a row (0-5-4) on the road.

"We didn't have enough energy," Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash said. "It just seemed like we were flat all over."

Trailing 2-1, the Blue Jackets had an opportunity early in the third to tie the score. Anaheim's Saku Koivu went to the penalty box for tripping Kristian Huselius at 4:27, and Petteri Nokelainen headed off for hooking Jake Voracek at 5:35.

But in the 52 seconds that followed, the Blue Jackets weren't able to get the puck on Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, even though they took a timeout before the power play.

"Down one goal, a 5-on-3 is the turning point of the game," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I don't know that we even got a quality look. We stumbled around, got shots blocked. We had a cross-ice pass that got picked off. They made a good play, but overall it wasn't what we needed right there."

Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin shot wide from 47 feet, and a Huselius shot from the right circle was blocked by defenseman James Wisniewski. Otherwise, the puck stayed mostly on the perimeter, and the Ducks' defenders hardly looked outnumbered.

"They took away what we wanted to do, and we didn't adjust quickly enough," Nash said. "We have to do better."

The Ducks sprinkled a little salt on the Blue Jackets' wounds a few minutes later, scoring a power-play goal with 6:13 remaining to pull ahead 3-1.

The Blue Jackets fell behind 2-0 late in the second period when Ducks winger Bobby Ryan got behind defenseman Kris Russell and scored on a sprawling effort with 54.4 seconds remaining.

But Umberger got the deficit back to one on the next shift, gathering a rebound off a Nash shot to Hiller's left and whipping the puck on goal from an odd angle with 35.1 seconds left in the second. The puck appeared to slide between the post and Hiller's pad.

Hiller made 35 saves and kicked away at least three close-range deflections. He also got a little help from his posts on two occasions.

"I don't think the story of the game was our lack of scoring on the power play," defenseman Mike Commodore said. "I just don't think we played very well."

The Blue Jackets suffered another significant injury. Right winger Derek Dorsett, back only three games after suffering a concussion, suffered a broken hand during a first-period fight with the Ducks' Mike Brown.

aportzline@dispatch.com