Selanne’s return put at two to six weeks

The timetable for Ducks forward Teemu Selanne’s return after surgery to repair two broken bones in his jaw is two to six weeks, the Ducks announced Thursday.

That leaves his fifth Olympics appearance for Finland in question, but still a possibility.

Finland’s first game in Vancouver is Feb. 17 against Belarus -- five weeks from the date of Selanne’s injury.

The Ducks have 14 games remaining before the Olympic break, and won’t play after that until March 3, seven weeks after Selanne’s injury.

The surgery on Selanne’s jaw was performed Thursday by team oral surgeon Jeffrey Pulver at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange.

The timing of Selanne’s return might depend on whether he is cleared to play with a protective mask or shield after the injury’s initial healing period.

There is a history of Ducks players returning quickly after jaw injuries, but Selanne’s injury -- his jaw was broken in two places -- appears to be more serious.

Former Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger missed only two games in 2008 after what was termed a “minor” jaw fracture. During the 2007 playoffs, now-former Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin missed only one game after suffering a cracked jaw.

Selanne, 39, already missed 17 games because of a broken left hand.

He was playing in his third game since returning when his jaw was broken when a teammate’s point shot was deflected by a Boston player’s stick Wednesday night during the Ducks’ 4-3 victory at the Honda Center.

With 16 goals, Selanne is the Ducks’ third-leading goal scorer behind Bobby Ryan (20) and Corey Perry (18).

He has 595 career goals, and is seven short of boyhood idol Jari Kurri for 17th in NHL history.

Finland suffers double blow

Saku Koivu, the Ducks’ second-line center and Selanne’s teammate on the Finnish Olympic team, left the game with the Kings Thursday after being injured on a second-period faceoff and did not return.

The Ducks said Koivu -- captain of the Finnish Olympic team -- suffered “a lower-body injury.”

Koivu has 10 goals and his 29 points rank fourth on the team.

Late scuffle

The Ducks’ frustration boiled over in the final moments of the game, with Bobby Ryan assessed a roughing penalty, a charging major and a game misconduct after driving the Kings’ Oscar Moller into the boards.

“Let the league review it,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “He has his hands down and took a charge at the guy.”

Carlyle took more exception with the Ducks not showing more emotion early.

“We just have to accept responsibility for the way we played and we didn’t play good enough,” he said.

“Emotionally, you’re down because you lose a player like we did,” losing Selanne to injury Wednesday.

“It’s hard to pick people back up. But mentally, you have to do that as a team.

“As I said, it’s not like we didn’t demonstrate the fire in the hockey game. We did that later in the game. We needed to do that earlier in the game.”

Etc.

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty has 11 points in his last nine games on one goal and 10 assists. . . .

Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi, not noted for his offense, has four assists in the last five games. . . . The Kings are 18-0-0 when leading after two periods.

robynnorwood@verizon.net