Grimson Rewards Fans After Warm Welcome

One winger returned to the Duck lineup for Monday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, but another remained sidelined by a nagging injury.

Enforcer Stu Grimson drew big cheers from fans at Arrowhead Pond when he returned to the ice after missing more than a month because of a broken left hand. The response was even bigger when he assisted on Ruslan Salei’s goal that gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead 3:19 into the second period.

Left wing Marty McInnis hopes to get the same sort of reception when he returns to the lineup from a groin injury. McInnis, who missed his 11th game Monday, hopes to play either Wednesday against Vancouver or Sunday against Edmonton.

“It’s been scary because you don’t know how hard you can go without hurting it, so you have to test it every day,” said McInnis, who has been participating in full practices for about a week.

McInnis doesn’t expect to be sharp immediately upon his return. “I didn’t skate at all for the first two weeks,” he said. “I had to let it heal, then build up the strength and work on flexibility.”

When McInnis returns, Coach Craig Hartsburg said he might move him into Paul Kariya’s spot in the Ducks’ top line. Kariya is expected to be sidelined about a week because of a bruised foot. Ladislav Kohn played with the top line Monday, joining Steve Rucchin and Teemu Selanne.

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With Kariya out, Hartsburg moved Kip Miller into his spot on the first power-play unit Monday. Ted Donato joined the first penalty-killing unit.