Selanne Nears Scoring Leader

The night Teemu Selanne passed Jaromir Jagr for second in the NHL scoring race, he acted as if it were only an item of mild interest, an occasion he’d hardly noticed.

Jari Kurri just laughs.

“Players know the statistics and where they are every day. It’s no secret,” said Kurri, warming to the opportunity to roast his friend. “I see him reading the statistics every day. He goes in the bathroom and checks it out. You say, ‘What are you doing?’ He says, ‘Nothing, nothing!’ ”

Selanne has scored at a steady pace all season, never going more than three games without a point. But suddenly he is in the thick of the scoring race as he tries to help lift the Mighty Ducks into the playoffs for the first time.

With 90 points, he is still 11 behind Lemieux, who has 101 points and is muddling through a dismal stretch with the Penguins in what could be his final season.

Jagr, three points behind Selanne, is probably out of the picture because he is expected to miss at least another two weeks because of a groin injury. Wayne Gretzky is fourth with 84, and Philadelphia’s John LeClair has 81. The Ducks’ Paul Kariya, who has missed 13 games because of injuries, is tied for sixth with 79 points, 11 behind Selanne.

“He definitely has a chance to do it [win the Art Ross Trophy], especially the way Pittsburgh’s playing and the way we have been playing,” said Kurri, who watched Gretzky win most of his 10 scoring titles with Edmonton and the Kings. He finished second--a distant second--twice, in 1985 and 1987.

“If we keep playing well, the points will come for him,” Kurri said. “But you shouldn’t worry about that. I think the team has to keep winning. You don’t want to look too much at that race.”

There isn’t much question the scoring race is secondary.

“It doesn’t make any difference to me,” said Selanne, whose career-high 132 points as a rookie in 1993 tied for fifth--28 behind Lemieux.

“I know when I’m playing well, and when I’m playing well the goals and points are coming,” Selanne said.

Still, Kurri remembers how driven Gretzky was.

“It definitely motivated him,” he said. As for Lemieux, Kurri said, “I think he wants one more scoring title. He has a lot of pride within him.”

Duck Coach Ron Wilson recognizes how much great players are driven by their competitiveness, and he sees dividends for his team with Selanne in the race.

“It’s great for Teemu,” Wilson said. “What it can do is keep him really hungry because he could finish second in the league to Mario. Maybe even with a little bit of luck, a couple of big games, even catch him.”

Lemieux seems to be searching for inspiration, but is back in the lineup after missing a recent game because of a hip flexor. Still, with Jagr out and Ron Francis struggling, his linemates lately have been former Duck Garry Valk and Greg Johnson, both nine-goal scorers this season.

Selanne has three three-point performances in his last eight games, and two other two-point games in the same stretch.

With 15 games left, he’s on a pace to score 109 points, one more than last season, when he finished tied with Kariya for seventh in the NHL with 108 points.

This season, it’s likely that Selanne, instead of Kariya, will reach 50 goals. Selanne has 42, tying him for fourth, three behind Jagr, the NHL leader with 45.

Jagr once was on a pace that seemed insurmountable, but now he probably will be caught.

The question is, can Lemieux? “A couple of big games, where you get three or four points, you can really catch up,” Kurri said. “It can happen so quick.”