STANLEY CUP NOTEBOOK: KUNITZ HOPEFUL OF RETURNING BEFORE END OF THE SERIES.

Byline: ELLIOTT TEAFORD

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Left wing Chris Kunitz will have his broken right hand X-rayed this morning before the Ducks board the chartered airplane that will take them to Ottawa to face the Senators in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Saturday.

Kunitz expects the doctor to say that his hand is healing normally. Kunitz also hopes to hear him say there's still a chance he can play in the Finals.

So, just in case he proves to be a fast healer, Kunitz has been skating with his teammates to stay fit.

He handled the puck and took shots on net during the Ducks' optional skate Wednesday morning before Game 3. He even rang a shot off the crossbar, the noise piercing the relative quiet of the Honda Center.

"I think everyone was quiet because they wanted to see if my hand would fall off," Kunitz said, breaking into a smile.

Kunitz has been sidelined since he was struck by a shot by teammate Ryan Getzlaf late in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings. He underwent surgery to have pins inserted four days later.

"I don't want to make it worse," Kunitz said. "I can feel it. I'm trying to do my exercises, but I can feel the aches and the creaks."

Rookie Drew Miller replaced Kunitz on the Ducks' top line for Games 1 and 2 of the Finals, joining Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne.

Todd Marchant, who replaced Kunitz for the conference finals, played on the fourth line with Brad May and Shawn Thornton for the first two games.

Wake-up call: The Ducks normally don't hold a formal morning skate when they play their traditional 5 p.m. games on Sundays during the regular season, but Carlyle has held well-attended optional workouts during the Finals.

The Senators did not skate before Games 1 and 2.

The teams are expected to skate when the series shifts to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4, which will each start a little past 5p.m. PDT.

TV party: The Ducks are inviting fans to watch Game 3 on the scoreboard video screen Saturday at the Honda Center. Parking is free and the concession stands will be open.

Low ratings: The Ducks' 3-2 victory over Ottawa in Game 1 got a 0.72 cable rating on Versus and was watched in 523,000 households in the United States. The rating was down 18 percent from Carolina's 5-4 victory over Edmonton in last year's opener, which received a 0.88 cable rating (611,000 homes) on OLN, as the same network was known then.