Shields’ Goal Is Quite Simple: Keep Starting

Mighty Duck goaltender Steve Shields made his second consecutive start against San Jose on Wednesday night at Arrowhead Pond and the good news is that he didn’t lose his cool.

But that’s only because none of the Sharks tried to get rough with him when he tried to make a save like the Dallas Stars did in his last start.

“I’ll probably snap again if that did happen,” Shields said before Wednesday’s game. “I put a lot of work into what I do and I prepared myself to play under certain rules. When I’m not given that chance, I have a problem with that.”

What Shields doesn’t have a problem with is how Duck Coach Bryan Murray decides which goaltender to start. Because Shields played well against the Stars in a 2-2 tie, he got the start against San Jose even though Jean-Sebastien Giguere began Wednesday’s action fourth in the league with a 1.87 goals-against average.

“I’m totally on the same page as the coach,” Shields said. “If a goalie is playing well and he doesn’t lose, he should continue to play and deserves to play.”

Giguere also understands that his starts will come and he’s just glad to be playing at such a high level after missing the first five games of the season because of a slight groin strain.

“At first it was a little hard and it showed in the first two games that I played ... I felt a little rusty,” said Giguere, who gave up three goals in a loss to Tampa Bay in his first start.

“But it didn’t take long for me to get it back because even though my leg was hurt in training camp, I worked really hard.”

*

Center Steve Rucchin’s injury turned out to be a little more serious than first revealed because the veteran center will miss at least the next three games because of a stress fracture of his left leg. At first it was thought Rucchin only suffered a bad ankle sprain when he was hit by the puck on Sunday but an MRI on Wednesday discovered the break and he is not expected to begin skating again until this weekend.

*

The Ducks will start an 11-day trip at Columbus on Friday and Murray is pleased with what the team has been able to accomplish on their just concluded eight-game homestand, their longest of the season.

“We’ve had good practice time and the guys have worked really hard,” he said. “There are some games that we’re going to have our hands full, but I think we’re capable of winning them as well.”