Heatley in Sharks’ lineup for exhibition against Ducks

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Dany Heatley was among the few regulars included in San Jose’s lineup for their exhibition game against the Ducks on Monday at the Honda Center, so it’s not quite a rematch of the first-round playoff series last spring in which the eighth-seeded Ducks upset the top-seeded Sharks. Linemates Devin Setoguchi and Joe Thornton were also in uniform for Heatley’s second game since he was acquired from Ottawa on Sept. 12. Rob Blake and Dan Boyle weren’t in uniform, but Joe Pavelski and former Duck Kent Huskins were playing and Evgeni Nabokov started in goal, so the Sharks did have a sprinkling of big names.

The Ducks started Jean-Sebastien Giguere in net, still needing to get a read on his ability to regain his old form and see whether he can beat out Jonas Hiller for the No. 1 job. Joffrey Lupul and Teemu Selanne flanked center Saku Koivu again. However, Coach Randy Carlyle moved winger Kyle Calder onto a grinder/checking line with Petteri Nokelainen and Evgeny Artyukhin after using Calder on a scoring line in his first two games.

One nice moment before the game: Koivu and Sharks defenseman Mathieu Dandenault met at the red line--and not to fight. They were teammates in Montreal for several seasons and might have been marveling at how both ended up moving westward.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

-- Helene Elliott