The latest on the Ducks' injuries, and how they're affecting the lineup.
Petteri Nokelainen probably summed it up best.
"I play with whoever they put me out to play with," he said, "Right now it looks like we're playing with everybody right now, especially when we're two guys short in the middle."
Those two guys -- centers Saku Koivu and Ryan Carter -- didn't take part in a full practice Tuesday with their teammates. Koivu at least attempted to start, after skating for a half-hour on his own, but lasted about 15 minutes before walking off the ice. Carter, who bruised his foot in Columbus when it absorbed a teammate's shot in practice, didn't skate at all.
Head coach Randy Carlyle said he is hopeful that Koivu, who has an upper-body injury, can participate in a complete practice Wednesday and play Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Carter is presumably farther off.
The forward lines in practice were certainly a hodgepodge, and somewhat resembled Monday's lineup against the Penguins:
Bobby Ryan - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Evgeny Artyukhin - Saku Koivu/Petteri Nokelainen - Teemu Selanne
Joffrey Lupul - Todd Marchant - Kyle Calder
Mike Brown - Erik Christensen - George Parros
Said Carlyle: "We felt it was going to be difficult to compete in games if we didn't spread out some of our offense. It wasn't really that drastic. We brought Kyle Calder in, then we decided to move him in a situation where we'd have a pairing if it was Getzlaf and Perry, and Calder or anyone else we decided to put there. Then we had Bobby Ryan with Selanne, and the option of Marchant and Nokelainen. That was the mindset behind it, to try to create enough that we would have two lines of offense, and formerly a checking line with Brown, Lupul, and be it Marchant or Nokelainen."
Nokelainen, for his part, hadn't played his natural center position all season before Monday.
"It takes a little time to adjust," he said of all the changes, "but it's not that big of a difference. We know our roles. Right now we know we have to concentrate on simple things and try to get it going that way."
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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