Shake-Up Comes as Promised

Coach Pierre Page said there would be changes after Wednesday’s loss to Chicago and the Ducks didn’t waste any time.

Centers Espen Knutsen, the sensation of training camp, and Richard Park were sent to the minor league affiliate in Cincinnati on Thursday. Recalled were left wing Jeremy Stevenson and right wing Jeff Nielsen.

Neither Page nor General Manager Jack Ferreira was available for comment. Assistant General Manager David McNab said the moves were made to shake things up. The Ducks are 0-5-1 in their last six games.

“Both of them skate with a lot of intensity,” McNab said of Stevenson and Nielsen. “That’s something we need right now.”

Duck officials are hoping that the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Stevenson, who had 295 penalty minutes with Baltimore in 1995-96, can take some of the physical pressure off Teemu Selanne.

Selanne, who leads the NHL with 20 goals, has been worked over in recent games and held scoreless.

“Other teams know if they take me out of the scoring, they can win the game,” Selanne said. “We have to have other guys score and do some damage.”

Page had hoped the 25-year-old Knutsen, an offensive star in Europe, would show a similar propensity in the NHL. Instead, he had three goals in 19 games and did not have an assist.

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Page put the Ducks through an intense 1-hour 20-minute workout at the Pond, then left the arena immediately afterward.

“I thought training camp had started again,” Selanne said. “But whatever it takes to turn us around, we have to do it.”

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Jason Marshall did not practice because of a sore shoulder, a result of his fight with Chicago’s Jean-Yves Leroux on Wednesday.

“I missed a punch and landed on him,” Marshall said.

Marshall is expected to play Saturday against St. Louis.