Ryan Getzlaf out for Ducks; leaves road trip for appendectomy

On Tuesday afternoon, the Anaheim Ducks blog Ducks and Pucks posted a curious item: Ryan Getzlaf, the team’s captain, was seen driving away from John Wayne Airport back in California despite having been with his team in Dallas for Tuesday night’s game against the Stars.

Turns out, their eyes didn’t deceive them: Getzlaf left the Ducks, returned home and will have a non-emergency appendectomy on Wednesday. His recovery time is 4-12 days, which is a rather large spread.

There was some concern that this situation was related to Getzlaf’s sports hernia, which slowed him in the postseason but that he opted not to have surgery to correct.

Instead, it’s just appendicitis.

Like the Ducks (1-5-2), Getzlaf is off to a pathetic start: One assist in eight games this season, skating to a minus-5. Jonathan Toews blew past him for the overtime game-winner in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 1-0 win on Tuesday night.

Could we see Rickard Rakell leap up to the top line between Corey Perry and Carl Hagelin against the Stars?

Whatever the solution for coach Bruce Boudreau, the Getzlaf injury couldn’t come at a worse time. The Ducks have six goals in eight games, the only NHL team is score less than 10 goals on the season. That’s 0.75 goals per game, and they’re clicking at 4.5 percent on the power play. In other words, they’re the offensive equivalent of a ruptured appendix.