Rucchin Is a Cut Above Last Season

Steve Rucchin gave a goal and an assist and took about 20 stitches for the Mighty Ducks’ cause Saturday.

With his 45th point of the season, Rucchin set a career high for points. He had 44 last season.

The stitches were the result of a careless high stick by Jeremy Roenick with about three minutes left in the game, but the double minor gave the Ducks a long power play to help protect a one-goal lead.

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Rat’s foiled again: Kevin Todd, nicknamed “Rat,” hasn’t scored a goal in 27 games. His luck is so bad he has had two goals taken away in the last three games for being in the crease, and didn’t score despite five shots on goal Saturday.

Coach Ron Wilson is critical of the in-the-crease video review and would prefer it to be a referee’s judgment call.

“It would be like three seconds in basketball, getting a basket called back because you asked to check the video and he was in there longer than three seconds,” Wilson said.

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Rookie Darren Van Impe was the odd man out with the arrival of defenseman J.J. Daigneault. . . . With less than a month before the March 18 trading deadline, there are many scouts in the press box. Seen at each of the last two Duck games: Scouts from Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal, Vancouver and Detroit.