Ducks’ Ryan Getzlaf to miss second game tonight

Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf’s upper body injury will keep him out of a second consecutive game Tuesday night.

The team’s scoring leader (10 goals, 12 assists) did not appear at the team’s morning skate Tuesday at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., where the Ducks (15-3-1) will play the Florida Panthers at 4:30 p.m. PST.

“He’s out tonight,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said after the team skate. “It is still day-to-day. We expect him to be on the ice tomorrow in practice and we’ll see how far that takes us.”

Getzlaf fell on the Honda Center ice Friday and was nearly scratched from the 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres before recording his first career hat trick plus an assist in the first period.

But Getzlaf reported discomfort Sunday afternoon and was kept out of the team’s 3-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

Boudreau said after the game that if it was “Game 77 or Game 4 of the playoffs,” it would be a different story, but he didn’t want to jeopardize Getzlaf’s ability to play in the future by rushing him back.

Second-line center Mathieu Perreault filled in for Getzlaf, whose absence was felt in squandered power plays and just 11 combined shots in the first and third periods.

The Ducks, leading the NHL with 31 points, take an unbeaten streak (8-0-1) against the Panthers in the opener of Anaheim’s four-game road trip. Florida has struggled mightily this season, giving up an Eastern Conference-high 64 points and standing 3-11-4.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire