While the Ducks rage on in the packed Western Conference playoff race, they’ll have to do without Jonas Hiller for at least the next three games. The Ducks starting goalie suffered a setback in his recovery to get over his spell of fatigue and lightheadedness and has been placed back on injured reserve. With his placement on IR, Hiller will miss the next three games.
Hiller missed three games last week with the same problems but returned to action on Sunday night against Edmonton. He made 12 saves in earning a shutout in a 4-0 win. During practice yesterday, however, Hiller started suffering from the same symptoms once again so the Ducks are proceeding with caution. Timo Pielmeier was called up from the AHL to backup Curtis McElhinney who will start in Hiller’s place.
We mentioned it before, but the Ducks signing of Ray Emery now looks to be even smarter than it was previously believed now with Hiller struggling with these issues. Once Emery is ready and back into game shape after his turn in Syracuse of the AHL, the Ducks will have a guy with better NHL experience in there to assist Hiller. McElhinney has done very well, however, while Hiller has been out. McElhinney won all three starts he made during Hiller’s recent spell and earned a shutout against Colorado.
For the Ducks to be playoff threats, however, they’ll need Hiller and after riding him so hard throughout this season, this break from action should help him out provided his condition improves.