New Line Combinations at Practice

With his team mired in a 1-6-1 slump, Coach Craig Hartsburg shuffled his line combinations significantly for Monday’s practice.

Hartsburg isn’t certain he will stick with the changes for Wednesday’s game against his old team, the Chicago Blackhawks, however.

“We’ll see how it works,” he said of moving center Matt Cullen to the first line to play with wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne and dropping Steve Rucchin to the second line to play with wingers Tomas Sandstrom and Marty McInnis.

“It’s not set in stone. We’ll try it for a couple of days in practice.”

It’s not to be confused with a promotion for Cullen or a demotion for Rucchin. Hartsburg said he’s merely attempting to spread the scoring out a bit.

After all, the Kariya-Rucchin-Selanne line has accounted for 58 of the Ducks’ 118 goals this season. Sandstrom, Cullen and McInnis have accounted for 23 goals.

“I’m not concerned with teams trying to match up with our guys,” Hartsburg said of the changes. “I’m worried about ourselves playing a better game.”

Under the best of circumstances, Hartsburg would like to think any of his top six forwards could play in any combination.

“The top six is where all our offense comes from,” he said. “We’re willing to switch a guy here or there to spark us. It gives you a different look, a different feel.”

Asked about the Ducks’ lack of scoring beyond the first line, Hartsburg said, “If our top line doesn’t score, we’re going to struggle to get goals.

“But there are ways to stimulate the offense--by getting traffic in front of the net and getting pucks to the front of the net. If you’re not a 40- or 50-goal scorer, you’ve got to stick your nose in there [in front of the net].”

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This is the Ducks’ fourth three-game losing streak this season. They haven’t lost four in a row since a seven-game streak last March.

“When you go into a slide, coaches all say, ‘It happens to everybody,’ but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it,” Hartsburg said. “Some adversity is good. You find out how the guys respond.”

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Goalie Guy Hebert, who could be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, recently fired his longtime agent and hired Don Baizley, who also represents Kariya, Sandstrom and Selanne.

Kariya and Sandstrom also will be free agents this summer. Selanne is signed through the 2001-02 season.