Sawyer Out for Sunday

A still shaky Kevin Sawyer appeared at the Mighty Duck offices Friday, in better shape than when he had wobbled off the ice Thursday following a fight in a 5-4 loss to the Kings.

Sawyer, who went to a hospital for examination after the game, was still suffering from minor headaches, said team officials, who indicated he did not have a concussion. Sawyer will not play in Sunday’s game against Phoenix. He will probably go on injured reserve until after the Christmas break. Mike Brown was recalled from minor league Cincinnati to fill the enforcer role.

Sawyer, who is second in the NHL with 115 penalty minutes, and the Kings’ Brad Norton fought in the second period. Sawyer didn’t even make it to penalty box. He looked so woozy that he was sent off the ice by game officials.

“Sawyer is a competitive guy, who battles for his team,” King Coach Andy Murray said Friday. “He’s worked hard to get the National Hockey League and has played hard to stay there.

“By the same token, he has not been shy about hitting other teams’ good players. That’s the type of game he plays. That’s why he’s been able to stay in the league. He has fought all the big guys. At the same time we feel bad. We’re human beings, we care for people and you don’t want any to get hurt.”

Norton, too, was concerned about Sawyer, who initiated the fight after Norton had checked Paul Kariya.

“He was just doing his job,” Norton said. “I got a lucky punch in there. You never like to see that. You know it’s going to happen, but you don’t like to see a fellow player go down.”

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Duck Coach Mike Babcock said defensemen Ruslan Salei and Keith Carney would be available for Sunday’s game.

The Ducks were left with only five defensemen after Carney was sent home with a stomach virus Thursday. Salei had hoped to play against the Kings but sat out for the ninth time in 10 games because of a strained muscle in his right side.

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Adam Oates’ two assists Thursday gave him 1,369 points in his career, tying John Bucyk (Detroit, Boston) for 16th on the NHL’s all-time list.