Maybe if the Ducks were locked in a nerve-jangling Stanley Cup playoff series or perhaps if there were only a handful of regular-season games remaining, Ryan Getzlaf would be in their lineup.
Since neither was the case, Getzlaf sat out Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Getzlaf wanted to play against the Canucks, after sitting out Thursday’s 7-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers because of a nagging, unspecified lower-body injury, but Ducks coach Dallas Eakins had the final say.
“That would be a no-go,” Eakins said via Zoom from Vancouver. “He’s close. I just think it’s a little risky and I don’t want to risk it. There’s a lot of hockey left and those last two months (March and April) are going to be a full sprint. We need that young man at 100 percent, and that’s not easy for him.”
Eakins shuffled his line combinations with Getzlaf sidelined. Rather than simply inserting Sam Steel into Getzlaf’s slot as the Ducks’ top-line center as he did Thursday, Eakins revamped his lineup in ways he hasn’t done since the early days of the season, saying “it was time to shake it up.”
So, at the morning skate, rookie center Trevor Zegras skated between veteran wingers Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg. Left wing Max Comtois was teamed with center Isac Lundestrom and right wing Rickard Rakell. Left wing Sonny Milano formed a line with Steel and right wing Troy Terry.
Zegras had formed a line with Milano and Rakell, but Eakins said he wanted him playing with two more responsible two-way players, so he teamed him with Henrique and Silfverberg for Saturday’s game. Zegras, 20, had the Ducks’ worst plus/minus defensive rating at minus-14 going into the game.
It wasn’t clear how long Getzlaf might be sidelined. The Ducks return to Honda Center to begin a six-game homestand Tuesday, when they host the San Jose Sharks. Getzlaf, 36, is the Ducks’ fourth-leading scorer with 27 points, including a team-leading 24 assists.
“I talk to Ryan every day, so I know him inside and out,” Eakins said. “Watching him on the ice, he is honest with the fact that he’s not 100 percent. He’s not going to lie about that. If there were 10 games left, it might be a different conversation, but there’s still a lot of runway left.
“I think we have to manage it this way.”
BOUNCING BACK
Henrique’s first-period goal against the Oilers on Thursday was his first since Nov. 21 against the Canucks, ending a 13-game drought. He sat out 20 games between Dec. 6 and Jan. 26 because of an unspecified lower-body injury suffered in a Dec. 3 game against the Calgary Flames.