Marchant’s moves are to the team’s advantage

Getting unexpected contributions from veteran players is not unusual for a team playing in the Stanley Cup finals. Forward Todd Marchant is that type of player for the Ducks this year.

Drafted by the New York Rangers in the seventh round in 1993, Marchant is taking part in his first Cup final and played a key role in helping the Ducks reach this point.

After missing the first 10 games of the playoffs because of hernia surgery, Marchant was inserted into the lineup and has been a steadying force. Whether he’s centering the Ducks’ fourth line or playing wing on their top line with Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne, Marchant has been a good fit.

“The biggest challenge is going from position to position,” said Marchant, who has two assists in the last six playoff games. “It’s more natural for me to go back to center than it is to go to wing. But I didn’t have any problem with either transition.

“There was one game, I think it was Game 5 [against Detroit in the conference finals] where I played right wing, left wing and center. That’s just the way it happens.”

For the most part, Marchant has been used like a glue stick by Coach Randy Carlyle, who does not have a problem moving the veteran forward around the lineup.

“It’s really not an issue to me,” said Marchant, who recently worked with Brad May and Shawn Thornton on the fourth line in practice. “There are times when your responsibilities change ... but you have to know all of the positions anyway. It’s nothing major.”

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Ducks winger Chris Kunitz had a different look Sunday: He no longer had a soft cast on his right hand, and he had his beloved Detroit Tigers hat back on his head.

Kunitz, who usually flanks McDonald and Selanne on the Ducks’ top line, broke two bones in his hand in the first game of the conference finals. He underwent surgery to repair the damage and had been wearing a fingertip-to-elbow bandage until Friday, when he said X-rays showed the bones were healing well enough for his doctor to take the cast off.

However, he can’t grip a stick and he ruled out the possibility of an imminent return.

“It’s pretty sore and tender,” he said. “I can move my wrist now, but I still can’t move all my fingers.”

The Tigers hat is a souvenir from his college days at Ferris State, in Big Rapids, Mich. His roommates were Tigers fans so he became one too, and it stuck. “But I couldn’t wear the hat during the Detroit series,” he said, laughing.

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Ottawa is 3-0 in Game 1s during the playoffs, and the Ducks are 2-1. But the Senators’ defense has displayed more holes at the start of series, giving up nine goals, compared to the Ducks giving up only four.... The Ducks urge fans attending tonight’s game, which starts at 5 p.m., to allow for extra travel time because heavy traffic is expected around the Honda Center with the Angels playing host to Seattle starting at 6 p.m.

lonnie.white@latimes.com

helene.elliott@latimes.com