Latest Goal Leaves Kurri Seven Shy

Jari Kurri moved a step closer to becoming the eighth player in NHL history to reach 600 goals Sunday by scoring the 593rd of his NHL career.

But the goal was only Kurri’s 10th this season, so it might be difficult to reach the 600-goal mark in the final 21 games--and the Ducks have the option on his $1.5-million contract.

“I don’t know how many games I have left to do that,” said Kurri, who turns 37 in May but wants to play one more season. “I’ve got to push, push, push to get that done.”

Still, he passed up a chance to shoot on a two-on-one late in the game, instead passing the puck to Kevin Todd, who broke a 27-game goal drought.

“Jari’s an unselfish player,” Todd said. “He’s had a great career--one of the top 10 of all time. He’s going to the Hall of Fame as soon as he retires. I know 600’s important to him, but he’s very unselfish. He doesn’t care who scores if the team wins and he plays that way every game.”

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Defenseman J.J. Daigneault was concerned about the possibility of a suspension after referee Don Koharski gave him an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty and a game misconduct because he thought Daigneault swung his stick at him.

“I had no idea it was the ref,” Daigneault said. “I thought it was a Canuck, and I swung my stick. [Koharski] was all rattled. He thought I did it on purpose. If I thought he was doing a bad game, maybe I would have had a motive to do it. But I thought he was doing a good game.”

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Center Sean Pronger returned after missing two games because of an abdominal strain.