Hartsburg Shuffles Three of the Lines

Searching for a spark, Coach Craig Hartsburg shuffled his lines for Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Paul Kariya-Steve Rucchin-Teemu Selanne line was the only one that remained intact. After all, they went into the game with 51 of the Ducks’ 102 goals.

But Hartsburg made some dramatic moves for the second consecutive game.

Marty McInnis, Matt Cullen and Tomas Sandstrom formed the Ducks’ second line. Ted Drury, Travis Green and Jeff Nielsen formed the third line. Stu Grimson, Johan Davidsson and Antti Aalto formed the checking line.

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Calgary defenseman Steve Smith, who played with Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri during the Edmonton Oilers’ dynasty in the 1980s and knows a good one-two punch when he sees one, had this to say recently about Kariya and Selanne:

“Get caught flat-footed against those two and you are out on an island with no hope of rescue.”

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Left wing Jim McKenzie could not play for the third consecutive game because of a gash near his right eye, an injury he suffered in the first period of a 6-4 victory over Edmonton on Jan. 10 . . . . Pittsburgh defenseman Kevin Hatcher, the subject of frequent rumors that had him going to the Ducks earlier this season, played in his 1,000th NHL game Monday. Hatcher is the 132nd player in league history to reach the milestone. . . . Goaltender Guy Hebert played in his 300th game as a Duck on Monday.