Line adjusts as Miller moves in

Since losing left wing Chris Kunitz to a broken hand in the first game of the Western Conference finals, the Ducks have scrambled to find a complement to Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne on their top line.

Todd Marchant, usually a center, most often filled that spot. But Coach Randy Carlyle, trying to assemble a fourth line, put him back at center between Brad May and Scott Thornton in Monday’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals and put rookie Drew Miller on the left with McDonald and Selanne.

McDonald, the line’s center, acknowledged that he and Selanne had to make some adjustments -- though the transition seemed smooth enough when Miller’s hit on Senators defenseman Wade Redden caused the turnover that made it possible for Selanne to feed McDonald for the goal that tied the score at 1-1 in the first period.

“Certainly with Chris there, we’ve played with him last year and most of this year, and you go on the ice and it’s all instinct. You’ve learned each other’s tendencies, just from repetition,” McDonald said.

“And with somebody new there you have to take a little more time off the ice, talking, trying to make everyone aware of what each other is doing. But when you’re on the ice, you’re ... just focused on playing hard.”

But having a rookie rather than a veteran on the line makes a difference, McDonald said.

“I imagine Drew might be a little bit nervous, so you just try and talk to him a little bit more, try and get him to relax and just play his game,” McDonald said.

Miller, who made his NHL debut in the Ducks’ Game 5 clincher against the Minnesota Wild in the first round, is the younger brother of Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, who was at Monday’s game.

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Key statistics from Game 1 include more hits and shots by the Ducks. They outhit Ottawa, 30-21. Center Samuel Pahlsson had a game-high eight hits. Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Ray Emery faced 30 shots on goal, which matches the fourth-most he has had to deal with in these playoffs, including three overtime games.

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Commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that the prospect of the NHL reversing its southward shift and adding more teams from Canada is “an interesting and intriguing thought” and is “more likely than it was three, four, five years ago” but that he doesn’t advocate transferring any of the 24 existing U.S.-based franchises.

Canadian technology magnate Jim Balsillie last week made an offer to buy the Nashville Predators, fueling speculation that he might take the team to Winnipeg or the Kitchener-Waterloo area, his home base southwest of Toronto.

Bettman, speaking Monday before Game 1, said the salary cap and revenue sharing implemented in the last collective bargaining agreement would make a return to Canada feasible.

“At the present time, we’re not looking at expansion. At the present time, we’re not looking at relocation,” he said. “But they seem to be something, depending on the circumstances, we may have to deal with.”

During Bettman’s tenure, the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995 and the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996.

Bettman also repudiated the notion that the Predators’ proposed sale is a sign that the league’s expansion into non-traditional hockey markets was failing. He said the Predators were unique for having more individual season-ticket holders than corporate season-ticket holders.

“This team’s suffering is due to a lack of corporate support,” he said.

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Among the celebrities at Game 1: actors Cuba Gooding Jr., Kevin James, Masi Oka, and Adam Brody, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who dropped the ceremonial opening puck. Stephen Stills sang the national anthem and Kelsey Scott sang the Canadian anthem, “O Canada.”

helene.elliott@latimes.com

lonnie.white@latimes.com