Elbow Injury Might Continue to Keep Leclerc Out of Lineup

Left wing Mike Leclerc came down with an infected left elbow and could not play in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins. Leclerc, one of the Ducks’ pleasant surprises with four goals and five points, suffered a cut early in the season and it never healed properly.

It’s uncertain whether he will be fit to play Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the second game on the Ducks’ six-game home stand.

“We’re hoping he’ll be back Wednesday,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said.

What was clear Sunday was that the Ducks missed Leclerc’s energetic style of play at both ends of the ice. Hartsburg shuffled his lines, moving Jeff Nielsen from the fourth line to the third to join center Antti Aalto and right wing Ladislav Kohn.

By the third period, with the Ducks sputtering and facing a three-goal deficit, Hartsburg changed his lines further in the hope that it would shake the team from its doldrums.

“That line has been terrific for us, especially at the end of the road trip,” captain Paul Kariya said of the Leclerc-Aalto-Kohn line. “They might have added a goal or maybe two for us tonight [against Boston].”

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Hartsburg hinted that he might shuffle his lines for Wednesday’s game against the Penguins. But he said he wouldn’t decide until today’s practice.

By game’s end Sunday, Hartsburg had Kohn, Aalto and right wing Teemu Selanne playing together for the first time. Kariya, Steve Rucchin and Marty McInnis formed a second line, one that played together on occasion last season.

Nielsen, Matt Cullen and Ted Donato played on the third line. The fourth line of Stu Grimson, Ted Drury and Jim McKenzie remained intact.