Kariya Out About a Week

Paul Kariya, the Ducks’ leading scorer with 69 points, will be sidelined for about one week because of a bruised right ankle, the team said Saturday.

Kariya took several hard shots off his ankle last week, which caused the bruising. He suffered a broken right foot after blocking a shot in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season against the Detroit Red Wings.

Kariya, who has 15 goals and 12 assists in his last 14 games, is expected to miss games Monday against the St. Louis Blues and Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks. His status for the Ducks’ game Feb. 27 against the Edmonton Oilers is uncertain.

The Ducks expect to have winger Stu Grimson, sidelined because of a broken left hand since Jan. 18, back in the lineup this week. They are unsure about the return of winger Marty McInnis, out 10 games because of a groin strain. A fit McInnis would be a logical choice to replace Kariya.

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The Ducks looked like a lost cause during a 4-2 setback Jan. 26 against the New York Islanders. But the Ducks are 5-2-3 and have at least one power-play goal in each of the 10 games since then.

“That was maybe our lowest point of the year,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We really took a step back that night. Since then, we’ve been a more focused and consistent team. We have to continue to play that way. We can’t look any farther ahead than our next game.

“I don’t think we’ve played great every night. But we’ve gotten great leadership from Kariya and [Teemu] Selanne. What they’ve done has set a tone for the rest of the team. To me, that’s great leadership.”

Selanne has eight goals and 14 assists during a 13-game point streak, the longest active streak in the NHL.

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The Ducks have been looking for offensive punch beyond their first line since their inaugural season, but they appear to finally have found some depth.

The Ted Donato-Matt Cullen-Kip Miller line has clicked like no other second line in the Ducks’ seven-season history. Donato has one goal and six assists in six games. Cullen has four goals and four assists during a career-best six-game point streak. Miller has two goals and seven assists in seven games.

“We are three guys who can move the puck pretty well, see the ice and create a lot of scoring chances,” Cullen said.