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Timetable for Ryan Getzlaf’s return: 4-6 weeks after suffering sinus fractures

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When you read about Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf’s brutal injury in which he’s got multiple fractures in his sinuses after taking a puck off his face, you can’t help but react with a wince. Getzlaf has been out for about a week now and after discovering the sinus fractures were clean and not displaced, he’s got a timetable for his return. Curtis Zupke of The Orange County Register reports that Getzlaf will miss 4-6 weeks because of the injury. The soonest the Ducks will get him back is by the end of January.

Losing Getzlaf for that amount of time is crushing for Anaheim not just because he’s the team captain but also because he’s part of the Ducks high-powered top line. Getzlaf with Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan makes for about as lethal a first line in the NHL and losing Getzlaf really puts a dent in their production.

The Ducks were already thin at center and they acquired Maxim Lapierre from Montreal to help build up their depth at center. With goals coming at a premium with Getzlaf out, the Ducks will be a bit tougher to deal with physically and defensively. The Ducks will have to keep it together to keep up with the rest of the Western Conference in the race for the playoffs.