Perry hurt in Ducks’ loss

DENVER -- Not only did it become a scoreless two-game trip that left little for the Ducks to be pleased about, but they could have a bigger loss as they head home.

Leading goal scorer Corey Perry was taken to a nearby hospital after leaving in the third period because of a laceration on his right leg, giving the Ducks more to worry about Thursday night after a 1-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

Perry was to receive stitches to repair the cut and the winger did not accompany the team back to Anaheim. He remained in a hospital overnight for observation.

Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said he did not know the extent of the injury. Perry was inadvertently cut in the middle of a scrum in front of the Colorado net.

“He got cut above the knee pad into the thigh area and they took him to get stitches,” Carlyle said. “He just came to the bench with the cut. It showed a slit in the sock he was wearing.”

Left wing Chris Kunitz said he saw that Perry was able to put weight on his leg.

“I went to the net,” Kunitz said. “And then there was a little scrum and he came back to the bench and walked off.”

Although he has only two goals since the all-star break, Perry leads the Ducks with 29 and his potential absence from the lineup could impact a team that runs into occasional scoring ruts.

The Ducks (38-25-7) haven’t scored since Scott Niedermayer’s third-period goal Monday in their 3-1 win over Ottawa. The other time they were shut out in back-to-back games was at the end of January against St. Louis and Philadelphia before they won 11 of 12.

Colorado’s Jose Theodore became the 10th goalie to blank the Ducks this season, joining the list that includes rookies such as Corey Crawford, journeymen Alex Auld and Mathieu Garon and all-stars such as Roberto Luongo and Manny Legace.

Theodore made 27 saves and got the only support he needed on Wojtek Wolski’s second-period goal. The best saves came when he stopped Perry on a breakaway early in the first and foiled Ryan Getzlaf on a point-blank chance in the second.

“He made some big stops when he was counted upon,” Carlyle said. “We didn’t have enough second and third opportunities. We didn’t get inside enough. That’s where the goals are scored, in that dirty area.”

Theodore managed to outshine Ducks’ backup Jonas Hiller, who was brilliant in making 29 saves to allow his offensively challenged teammates to hang around.

“I’ve got no complaints over the level of goaltending we got tonight,” Carlyle said. “I thought he gave us a chance.”

Carlyle juggled his lines in the second period to try to jump start his team.

Kunitz played alongside Getzlaf and Perry on the top line while Todd Bertuzzi was moved to the second line for a time with Teemu Selanne.

It wasn’t uncharted territory for Kunitz or Bertuzzi as Carlyle has occasionally swapped the two when the offense is struggling. What was different was Doug Weight dropping to the fourth line as Todd Marchant took his spot centering Bertuzzi and Selanne.

Weight did get back on the second line but nothing that Carlyle tried worked in a punchless follow to their loss in Chicago on Wednesday.

About mixing the lines, Carlyle said: “I wasn’t happy. I felt that our power play took momentum away from us early in the game. We weren’t creating enough with the puck on the offensive side of it. I tried to make some changes.”

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