Weary Team Takes the Day Off

Mighty Duck Coach Bryan Murray gave his team Wednesday off, and it’s no wonder.

Anaheim concluded a difficult 1-3 trip, which included two games in Canada, with a 3-1 loss at Montreal Tuesday night and did not return to the Arrowhead Pond until 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

It would be an understatement to say the Ducks are glad to be back home.

“We would have liked to come back home at .500 and we played well enough to have done that,” said Murray, whose Ducks will return to practice today and play their home opener against the Washington Capitals on Friday. “But we came up a little short.

“We learned some things. We found out that we do have a difficult time scoring and we need better balance.”

The Ducks are expected to have a different look now that they are off the road.

Murray said it’s a good chance that Anaheim will have back in the lineup forward Jim Cummins, who has been sidelined because of a foot infection, and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has been out because of a groin injury.

Another injured player close to returning is defenseman Niclas Havelid, who has not played since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 15.

“When we get some guys back, that will help in a couple of areas,” Murray said. “Opening the season like we did was tough on the guys who are new to the NHL and were really playing their first games.”

The Ducks did not play poorly in a season-opening loss at Boston and bounced back to win at Pittsburgh.

But after they were blown out at Toronto on Monday, Murray decided to make a few changes, which included making Timo Parssinen, a 24-year-old left wing from Finland, a healthy scratch against the Canadiens.

“We played some pretty tough teams and I think that for some of our guys, it was a little more than they expected,” Murray said.

“It’s common for guys who looked good in training camp to have some trouble when they have to step up to play at the NHL regular-season level. They see it’s a little different.”

*

Murray said that just because he wants to get Giguere in the lineup doesn’t mean that he’s not pleased with the play of starting goaltender Steve Shields.

“Steve played well for us,” Murray said. “He’s a hard-working goalie, but I don’t want him to play every night. We’ll determine after Giguere gets in there for a while who will get the bulk share of the starts, but for right now we’re going to try and balance it out.”