Ducks lose Pronger

No matter how it can be spun, Chris Pronger’s being out of the Ducks’ lineup is not a good thing.

But it is a scenario the Pacific Division leaders know and one they’ll have to again deal with as their standout defenseman is on the mend from a broken bone in his left big toe.

The Ducks learned before Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Phoenix at the Honda Center that they will be without Pronger for a minimum of two weeks.

Two defensemen whose ice time figures to increase in Pronger’s absence played a role in Anaheim’s third consecutive victory. Ric Jackman got his first goal as a Duck and Joe DiPenta broke a third-period tie with a score that caromed off two Coyotes for his first game-winner.

“When you lose Pronger, there’s other people that have to step to the forefront and give you more quality minutes,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “You can’t replace Chris Pronger but you have to try and tap the rest of your individuals to be a little bit better.”

DiPenta’s second goal of the season and fifth in 137 NHL games came at 11 minutes 58 seconds of the third when his point shot deflected off the skate of Phoenix forward Fredrik Sjostrom and bounced in off Coyotes center Steven Reinprecht.

“It’ll be an end-to-end [rush] in about 10 years,” DiPenta joked.

The fluke goal was appreciated by his teammates.

“Anytime Joe sticks one in, we’ll take it,” center Ryan Getzlaf said. “It’s nice to see Joe get one. He works pretty hard every day and to see him get a bounce like that for the effort he puts in is good for him.

The Ducks (40-17-11) pulled nine points ahead of second-place San Jose in the Pacific and have crept within three points of idle Nashville, which has a Western Conference-leading 94 points.

They managed to do so without Pronger, who won’t brag about a battle scar that was of his own doing.

Had the fracture been the result of a hard slap shot, he’d understand. The five-time All-Star missed nine games in January when a shot by Minnesota Wild forward Mark Parrish broke a bone in his left foot.

Pronger, perhaps mostly out of embarrassment, wasn’t about to give up how he injured himself while working out after Sunday’s 3-2 shootout victory over Nashville. Earlier Wednesday, Carlyle said he was under the impression that Pronger lost his balance during a particular exercise.

“It’s an unfortunate weight room incident that we don’t need to get into details on,” he said with a sheepish tone. “That’ll take up a whole page.”

The fracture was detected when Pronger saw a foot specialist Tuesday afternoon and had X-rays taken. Pronger, who didn’t practice that morning, said he visited the specialist because the pain would not subside.

The injury is another in a series of mishaps. Along with the broken foot and toe, Pronger has been struck in the face with a shot during practice and was recently hit in the throat on a shot by the Kings’ Lubomir Visnovsky.

Otherwise, Pronger has been everything the Ducks expected when they traded for him last July.

“It seems to be the way it’s going with me,” said Pronger, who has 11 goals and 42 assists. “The various incidents that seem to happen over the last three or four months. Not the news I was obviously looking for.”

Pronger said he was working out after the game because the team wasn’t scheduled to practice Monday. He said he didn’t recognize the severity of the injury at first.

“I immediately stopped my workout and went in and iced it,” he said. “It was pretty tender but usually when you jam it, it’s normally pretty tender. But when it doesn’t really get any better and you’re looking at it turn black and blue the way it did ... you start to realize it may be something wrong.”

eric.stephens@latimes.com