As Injuries Mount, So Do Losses

The Ducks worked out at an Irvine gym rather than risk sending anyone onto the ice Monday. Lately, it seems every time the Ducks hit the ice, something hits them back.

Left wing Marty McInnis, who strained his groin in the third period of the Ducks’ 4-2 loss Sunday to the Colorado Avalanche, will not play Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild.

Still questionable are defensemen Ruslan Salei (migraine) and Oleg Tverdovsky (back spasms). Tverdovsky has played in 258 consecutive games, the league’s second-longest active streak. Chicago’s Tony Amonte has played in 293.

Left wing Paul Kariya won’t play Wednesday, but will join the team for a two-game trip to play Detroit on Friday and Columbus on Saturday. Kariya broke his right foot Dec. 17 and has been sidelined for 15 games.

Forwards Mike Leclerc (knee surgery), Andy McDonald (concussion) and Steve Rucchin (concussion) and defenseman Niclas Havelid (season-ending knee surgery) also are sidelined.

To bolster the roster, the Ducks recalled defenseman A.J. Niemi and forward Bob Wren from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League.

Niemi already had been recalled twice this season, but has yet to record a point in five games. He has three goals and 11 points in 36 games for Cincinnati.

Wren has nine goals and 25 points in 34 games for Cincinnati. He played three games for the Ducks in 1997-98, but did not record a point.

“The guys who could play gave us a good, honest effort,” Coach Guy Charron said, referring to Sunday’s loss to the league-leading Avalanche.

“That’s the best team in the league, so we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Give credit to the guys who could play for us. The only thing we could ask for in that situation was an honest effort and we think we got that.”

The Ducks also got another loss, falling to 2-10-2-1 since Kariya was injured blocking a shot in a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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Charron hasn’t named a goalie for Wednesday’s game against the expansion Wild, but it’s expected that Jean-Sebastien Giguere will start for the third time in four games.