Two key players look ready to go

Success eluded the Ducks for most of their season-opening trip, but their mood should brighten by the time they play their home opener Wednesday with news Monday that Samuel Pahlsson and Jean-Sebastien Giguere could be in the lineup.

Pahlsson, arguably the Ducks’ top defensive player, and Giguere, their franchise goaltender, have been slowly recovering after both underwent hernia surgeries late in the summer. Now it appears the timetable for a return could be immediate.

Coach Randy Carlyle said the two are “very close” but held off on pronouncing them fit for playing against the Boston Bruins.

“We won’t make the decision until after the pregame skate on Wednesday,” Carlyle said.

Giguere had his surgery on Aug. 6, and Pahlsson went under the knife on Sept. 7 after both experienced pain when they resumed their off-season workouts. While the rest of the Ducks were doing off-ice workouts, Giguere did some heavy agility work in net and took plenty of shots from Pahlsson and winger Travis Moen.

While Ilya Bryzgalov and Jonas Hiller have ably filled in for Giguere, the Ducks have missed Pahlsson’s ability to kill penalties and to shut down an opponent’s top forwards.

Pahlsson, a Selke Trophy finalist last season as the NHL’s best defensive forward, had played in a club-record 275 consecutive games entering this season.

On Monday, the Swedish checking center tested himself by making several sharp cuts and said he felt much better.

If the two don’t return Wednesday, they will probably be back for the next game, given that the Ducks won’t play again until Sunday when they are host to Minnesota.

Meanwhile, Moen is expected to play against Boston after sitting out Saturday’s game for precautionary reasons after getting hit in the head Friday by Columbus forward Jared Boll.

After sitting the first four games, Maxim Kondratiev made his debut Saturday night against Pittsburgh, but it appears he has work to do to gain the trust of the coaching staff.

Kondratiev played only 9 minutes 8 seconds, and it was a struggle throughout. The 24-year-old let the Penguins’ Colby Armstrong get around him for a goal and also got caught up ice on a few occasions.

On the play against Armstrong, Kondratiev said, “He had a lot of speed, and I gave him too much time. He got a little lucky on the play. I was a little soft on that.”

The Ducks signed Kondratiev to a $500,000 one-way deal on May 25, figuring that he would be part of the defensive mix. Carlyle has tended to rely on Joe DiPenta, who isn’t nearly as skilled but plays a low-risk game that appeals to the coach.

“We’re just trying to find the right fit for him,” Carlyle said of Kondratiev. “With us, we know what we saw in the preseason with some of things he can do on the offensive side. We’d like to try to tap into that.

“We can’t forget that he is a defenseman. We’d like him to play a little bit more safer game in between the [faceoff] dots and stuff.”

--

eric.stephens@latimes.com