Ducks center Nate Thompson returns from conditioning stint with AHL team in San Diego

Ducks center Nate Thompson returned to the Ducks on Sunday, after playing one game on a conditioning assignment with their American Hockey League team in San Diego. Thompson, who underwent shoulder surgery during the off-season, was scoreless in the Gulls’ 3-1 victory over the Ontario Reign on Saturday.

Thompson reported no pain or setbacks after playing his first game since Game 7 of the Western Conference finals last May. He was injured during the Ducks’ regular-season finale, sat out their first-round playoff victory over the Winnipeg Jets and then returned for the next two rounds of the postseason.

“I was trying first game back to keep things simple,” Thompson told reporters Sunday. “I wasn’t trying to be hesitant at all. I was hoping to get a hit in early. First shift I was hoping I would be able to get a hit and I did. … It makes you feel like you’re back in the action and a hockey player again.”

Thompson remains on injured reserve.