ANAHEIM – Rickard Rakell is not at optimal health but is there really an expectation for him to be so when an appendix has ruptured and been removed?
The talented young Ducks center feels he is well enough. His first game back from a two-week absence just happened to be Friday’s Game 1 loss to Nashville and he feels there is a lot he can offer in the first-round playoff series.
“I felt OK,” Rakell said Sunday before Game 2 at Honda Center. “I still feel like I can do better. Tough loss but it’s nice to have the first one kind of out of the way. I’m in it now and just looking forward to doing better.”
Rakell underwent his appendectomy on March 29 and only began to resume skating on the final week of the regular season. When the Ducks began to prepare for the Predators, Rakell talked about how the pain he felt was nothing that he had ever experienced.
There is still discomfort to work through. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf had his appendix removed at the end of October and missed just four games. But the center later acknowledged that it took him some time to be pain-free and feel completely like himself on the ice.
“Obviously it’s a little bit but nothing that I’m going to say that’s not why I can’t perform my best,” Rakell said. “This is the situation right now. I’m feeling good enough to perform and do better.”
Rakell is an important cog in their overall attack. Not only did he have 20 goals and 23 assists this season as the Ducks’ fourth-leading scorer, but his presence in the middle allows Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau to put Getzlaf and Corey Perry on different lines.
“I think he got better as the game went on,” Boudreau said, reviewing Rakell’s Game 1. “I’ve never had my appendix out so I don’t really know. He only had two days of skating with it. Not to make an excuse but I thought he got better as the game went on.”
With that in mind, Boudreau didn’t mince words when it came to the entire line. Perry had a power-play assist and five shots on goal but Jamie McGinn played fewer than 10 minutes and only had one scoring chance, a rebound try that was denied by Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis.
All three were on the ice for Nashville’s tying and winning goals. Asked how much more he can get from the trio, Boudreau said. “Well, I didn’t think they gave too much last game so I think the answer would be a lot.”
INJURY UPDATES
As expected, Josh Manson did not play in Game 2 after incurring what the Ducks called head and upper-body injuries on a Game 1 hit by Nashville’s Filip Forsberg.
The club has not given an update on the defenseman outside of listing him as day-to-day, though the manner that he was hit figures to make his questionable for the upcoming Games 3 and 4 in Nashville.
Brandon Pirri continues to be sidelined with a head injury after Vancouver’s Nikita Tryamkin delivered a hit on April 1. Clayton Stoner continues to deal with lower-body injuries he’s battled all season.
Shawn Horcoff, Korbinian Holzer and Mike Santorelli were healthy scratches for the second consecutive game, while Nick Ritchie also sat after being recalled from San Diego (AHL).
PREDATORS MILESTONES
Shea Weber appeared in his 47th playoff game for Nashville, moving him into a tie with David Legwand for the most in franchise history. Weber was previously tied with Martin Erat. Mike Fisher played in his 102nd postseason game, the most in all among current Predators.
Contact the writer: estephens@ocregister.com
