Injury Sidelines Selanne Again

Teemu Selanne figured he wasn’t sound enough to play tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, so why bother flying all that way for nothing?

Selanne, who suffered a groin injury in last Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks, will be sidelined for the second consecutive game tonight.

Center Steve Rucchin, who injured his left knee in the San Jose game, is on the one-game trip and hopes to play. He did not play in Monday’s 2-2 tie against the Colorado Avalanche.

Usually, a team playing without its top two scorers doesn’t stand a chance against a playoff hopeful. But the Ducks have won four in a row at Edmonton and are 9-1-1 in their last 11 against the Oilers.

One of those victories was Feb. 27 at the Edmonton Coliseum when the Ducks played without injured forwards Selanne, Paul Kariya and Travis Green and still won, 4-0.

TONIGHT at Edmonton

* 6 PDT

* Channel 9

Site--Edmonton Coliseum.

Radio--KRLA (1110), KCKC (1350), KPLS (830).

Records--Ducks 25-41-13, Oilers 33-37-10.

Record vs. Oilers--4-1.

Update--Oiler defenseman Bobby Dollas, a member of the inaugural Duck roster in 1993-94, isn’t a big fan of Coach Pierre Page. “Sometimes you need a fresh start, sometimes you need a change,” Dollas said of the Jan. 9 trade that sent him to the Oilers. “We had our talks and nothing was getting accomplished. They [the Ducks] were calling up guys from the minors, then playing them ahead of me. I found it to be a lack of respect.” Of Page, he added: “We were like oil and water since the beginning. I think he had it in for me. I heard from the grapevine he didn’t like me before he got here. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to get the ice time I needed to prove myself.”