No Suspension for Mironov

The Ducks got some good news Wednesday when Brian Burke, NHL director of hockey operations, declined to suspend defenseman Dmitri Mironov for his second-period tirade in a 4-2 loss Tuesday to the San Jose Sharks.

Burke told General Manager Jack Ferreira the penalties given Mironov by referee Mark Faucette were proper but did not warrant additional punishment.

Mironov, angered after San Jose’s Mike Ricci scored the game-tying goal, confronted Faucette in front of the official scorer’s both. Mironov asked Faucette to consult the video goal judge to see if Ricci was in the crease when he scored.

Faucette refused, then gave Mironov a 10-minute misconduct. Mironov slammed his stick against the boards and said he began swearing at Faucette. Game and gross misconducts then followed.

Asked if he was concerned about drawing a suspension, Mironov said, “No, no. I did nothing wrong.”

A suspension to Mironov would have left the Ducks without their top defenseman. He was their second-leading scorer with 30 points (six goals, 24 assists) going into Wednesday’s game against the Calgary Flames.

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Right wing Jeff Nielsen suffered a broken left leg after a collision in the second period of Tuesday’s game against San Jose. He is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks.

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Tuesday’s loss to San Jose marked only the fourth time that the Ducks were defeated when Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne scored goals. The Ducks are 20-4-5, including 2-1-3 this season, when Kariya and Selanne score.