Niedermayer Questionable After Concussion

The Mighty Ducks face the possibility of not having Rob Niedermayer in the lineup after the forward suffered a mild concussion in Sunday night’s 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Niedermayer was hurt when he crashed into the boards while trying to check a Predator player near the end of the second period. He did not return to the bench in the third period, and his status for Friday’s game at Dallas is clouded.

“He banged his head a little bit and felt a little wooziness,” Duck Coach Randy Carlyle said.

Niedermayer, at the Arrowhead Pond briefly on Tuesday, left after the start of practice and was not available for comment.

He was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam to determine the extent of the concussion.

“I think he’s had some history before, but it’s nowhere near the severity [of the others],” Carlyle said of the injury. “But, of course, you have to be precautionary.”

Niedermayer, the team’s fifth-leading scorer, has played in every game this season and is having one of his strongest offensive seasons with 10 goals and 15 assists.

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As inconsistent as the Ducks have been this season, could they have found the blueprint to a strong second half in their victory Sunday?

“Hopefully it’s a learning curve for us in the understanding of the type of game that we have to play night in and night out to have success on the road,” Carlyle said.

Defenseman Keith Carney agrees.

“I think a game like that helps us understand how we need to play and how we’ll have success,” Carney said. “When we do skate and forecheck the way we did, we’ve played really well.

“I think we do realize that. It’s just a matter of duplicating that and doing it on a consistent basis.”

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Ilya Bryzgalov continued to show why the Ducks’ goaltending has been a strength as he shut down the Predators in his first start since Dec. 6 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Bryzgalov, a 25-year-old backup to Jean-Sebastien Giguere, has a 2.44 goals-against average and a strong save percentage of .913, but his 7-9-0 record largely resulted from a lack of offensive support in several of his starts.