Rucchin Moved to Injured Reserve

The Ducks placed center Steve Rucchin, who has an infected left ankle, on injured reserve and recalled Johan Davidsson from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League.

Rucchin will be sidelined for a third consecutive game when the Ducks host the Florida Panthers on Wednesday at the Arrowhead Pond. Davidsson is expected to center the fourth line.

However, Davidsson might be asked to play on the third line if Matt Cullen cannot play because of flu symptoms that prevented him from practicing Monday.

Davidsson was only concerned with getting a chance to prove himself after spending 33 games in the minors this season. After all, he played 64 games as the Ducks’ third-line center last season before failing to make the cut in training camp in September.

After a slow start in Cincinnati, Davidsson has rebounded to become the team’s leading scorer with 27 points (six goals, 21 assists).

“I’ve been up and down,” he said. “I had a rough start, but I kind of picked it up. It took me 15 games to wake up, but it’s been good for me.”

Davidsson has been getting plenty of ice time in Cincinnati, although he will probably see only limited action while playing between Stu Grimson and Ladislav Kohn on Wednesday.

“I’ve been playing pretty much on everything,” he said, referring to getting ice time on Cincinnati’s power-play and penalty-killing units. “I’ve had a chance to work on a lot of things.”

According to Davidsson, about the toughest part of life in the minors was Cincinnati’s pre-Christmas schedule of 16 games in 21 days.

“All of us were saying, ‘Please, somebody bring Christmas to us soon,’ ” he said with a hearty laugh.

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If Cullen can’t play Wednesday, the Ducks will be without their three top centers.

Ted Donato has been centering the top line in place of Rucchin. Tony Hrkac moved from the fourth line to the second, bumping Cullen to the third line for a few games. Antti Aalto, the Ducks’ third-line center, has been sidelined since suffering a sprained left elbow Dec. 4.