Defenseman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six to eight weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. And backup goaltender Viktor Fasth will miss another 3-4 weeks with muscle inflammation in his lower body. Fasth was a late scratch in Friday's game against the Lightning and Jonas Hiller started in goal.
Due to the injuries sustained by Fasth and Sbisa, the Ducks have recalled goalie Frederik Andersen and defenseman Nolan Yonkman from Norfolk in the AHL. Sami Vatanen was recalled on Friday and scored a goal in Saturday's game against the Coyotes.
Sbisa and Fasth have been through significant injury problems for the first part of this season. Sbisa missed the first 15 games of the regular season with an injured ankle. He got hurt again in the Ducks' 1-0 OT victory against the Lightning on Friday. He will have surgery on that wrist Monday.
Fasth was expected to start, but was scratched late when he got hurt in warmups. He missed a month earlier this season with a lower-body injury and only appeared in five games.
Andersen has had a great start to his NHL career. He went 6-1 with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage. He is the first goalie in nearly two decades to begin his NHL career with six straight victories.
As Ducks fan all know, they have fought through major significant injury issues while at the same time, leading the NHL standings for most of the season.
Koivu has not played since Oct. 27 because of a concussion. Jakob Silfverberg broke his hand in late October, and will still need another month. Sheldon Souray is still out after surgery on a torn ligament in his right wrist and is expected to be back in January.
I'm surprised the Ducks are this good, despite all the injury problems they've had. One reason they've been able to stay in games is because of Andersen and Hiller, who have backstopped this team, as well as a tandem of great defenseman like Ben Lovejoy and Cam Fowler, who have been able to keep pucks out of their own end and have given guys like Perry and Getzlaf a great way to score. As for the injury mess of Fasth and Sbisa, I honestly think that the Ducks do play better without Sbisa. Sbisa's line, before he went out, has had problems keeping the puck out of the net. It's not all his fault but his injuries, as well as him moving slower than he usually is, is something to be of concern about. As for Fasth, I'm not sure what I can say, except that I hope he gets better. The thing is, he could possibly be on the trade block come February. The Ducks can't afford to keep three really good goaltenders around. I doubt the Ducks will trade away Andersen, considering that he has played well for them so far and Bob Murray is not the type of guy to trade away talent that the Ducks need. Either way, Sbisa and Fasth are out again, and the Ducks will have to deal with their absences.
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