Loss Cuts Deeply for Chouinard

It was a tough night for the Mighty Ducks, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in overtime, 2-1. It was a painful night for Duck center Marc Chouinard.

Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk flipped a puck that ricocheted off Chouinard’s forehead in the second period, opening a gash that took seven stitches to close. Chouinard returned to play 2 minutes 56 seconds later and won eight of nine faceoffs in the third period and overtime.

Afterward, he was still a little dazed.

“It still hurts,” Chouinard said. “I never saw the puck coming. I was a little lightheaded at first, but it’s better now.”

Chouinard does not wear a visor on his helmet.

“That’s something I’m going to look at now,” Chouinard said.

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Right wing Alexei Smirnov, one of the Ducks’ promising young players, was sent to minor league Cincinnati on Friday. He was scheduled to play three games, then rejoin the team in New York on Monday.

Smirnov, 20, has struggled in recent games and was a healthy scratch Thursday against Columbus. He had one goal and one assist this season, both in the season opener against St. Louis.

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Petr Sykora’s second-period goal gave him points in six consecutive games. He has three games and three assists in that time. Sykora has six goals and 12 points this season.

Stanislav Chistov and Andy McDonald assisted on the goal.

Chistov is second among rookies with 11 points, behind Chicago’s Tyler Arnason, who has 12.