By Dan Wood
Ducks Radio Analyst

SAN JOSE – The Ducks apparently dodged a potentially dangerous situation when left wing Bobby Ryan was the victim of a knee-on-knee hit from Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano on the final shift of Wednesday night’s 4-2 victory over the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

After the team took Thursday off, Ryan joined his teammates for practice Friday at a suburban ice rink, though he did not last the entire session. Still, Ryan could be available for Saturday night’s matchup with the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

“Bobby skated before practice – felt a little uncomfortable,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “He has a brace. He’ll skate tomorrow. We’ll make a decision probably in warm-up tomorrow night.”

Ryan called Friday’s work a “small test, a little bit of a step forward.

“The treatment is going well,” Ryan said. “It’s a little tight, a little bruise, but that’s about it. I’ll try and get better for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a good day for a morning skate. It’s not a real hard practice. It’s one of those things where you can really do what you please to get it ready. That’s what I’ll do, and be optimistic about it.”

Ryan, who usually flanks center Ryan Getzlaf and right wing Corey Perry on the Ducks’ top line, ranks ninth in the NHL with 33 goals and is fourth among Ducks scorers with 66 points. He snapped an eight-game goal drought Wednesday in Calgary.

The hit by Giordano, in the neutral zone after Perry’s empty-net goal at 19:13 of the third period had essentially sealed the verdict, was suspicious. There has been no word from the NHL regarding potential supplementary discipline for Giordano.

“I have my personal view on it,” Carlyle said. “The league was there. Kay Whitmore looked at it, said they would get back to us. I don’t know if there’s been anything other than that.

“We just felt at the time, the puck was clearly moved to Ryan Getzlaf maybe two seconds previous to (Giordano) making contact with our player when he stuck it out. The game was over.”

Ryan watched video of the incident for the first time before Friday’s practice.

“I think it was definitely intentional,” Ryan said. “It’s one of those things he went out of his way to do, but it is what it is. If the league doesn’t think (supplemental discipline) is necessary, I’ll move on. I’m certainly not going to think about it again.”