Rucchin Getting Close to Return

Steve Rucchin, the Ducks’ top center, continues his steady recovery from a broken left hand. He spent much of Tuesday’s morning skate taking hard slap shots for the first time since he was injured Sept. 22.

The next step will be a full-contact practice Thursday in Buffalo. If that goes well, he could be in the lineup Friday against the Sabres or Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“He’s looking pretty good,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said of Rucchin, the Ducks’ third-leading scorer last season with 57 points. “We’ll evaluate him Thursday to see if he can go full out.”

The Ducks are 3-2-0-1 without Rucchin so far this season. They were 2-7-2 when he sat out 11 games last season because of an infected left ankle.

German Titov replaced Rucchin on the Ducks’ top line during a 4-3 victory Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

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Goaltender Dominic Roussel looked like he had been in quite a scrap even though he never left the Duck bench Tuesday.

Actually, he did leave the bench after the first period to sit on a chair in the runway leading to the dressing room. While seated on the bench early in the game, he was struck in the face by a puck and suffered a bruise under his left eye. An ice pack did little to ease the swelling.

“The puck hit you?” Teemu Selanne asked Roussel. “What a joke. You should wear your mask when you’re on the bench.”

Cracked starting goalie Guy Hebert: “See, goalies never have a night off.”

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Hebert had his own injury concerns after his first victory since a 3-1 decision over the expansion Minnesota Wild on opening night at the Arrowhead Pond. Hebert twisted a knee making a first-period save.

“I didn’t go down as solid as I wanted,” he said of making the save. “We’ll see how it feels. I’ve never had any knee trouble. Knock wood.”

Hebert stayed on his knees several times after making saves, getting to his feet slowly. But he never required assistance from the training staff. He made 24 saves in his first game since he was pulled late in the second period of Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils.