Kariya Skips Rest for Playoff Push

Paul Kariya isn’t skating at 100% because of a sore groin and says he would have sat out some games if not for the playoff race and Teemu Selanne’s recent injury.

“Every game’s been important, or else I would have taken a game off,” Kariya said. “Especially at the end of the road trip, with Teemu out, I needed to play. If we were in first place, I wouldn’t have played.

“I’m not skating at 100% right now. I can still get around, but a quick burst, that’s hard. I can skate in straight lines fine.”

Kariya missed 11 games at the beginning of the season because of an abdominal injury, but said this is unrelated.

“It’s nothing like my other injury,” said Kariya, who hurt his groin in a game a couple of weeks ago and has practiced lightly since. “There’s been no chance to rest it. We’ve been playing so many games.”

He’s wary of exacerbating the injury, and hopes the next four days off will help. If not, he might not play if the Ducks’ playoff position is secure.

“Injuries like that are like a piece of elastic with a little tear in it that you keep stretching. Sooner or later, it will tear more,” he said.

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Winger Warren Rychel, who played for Colorado’s Stanley Cup champions last season, was a healthy scratch for the third game in a row and is concerned about his position for the playoffs, pressing Coach Ron Wilson about why he isn’t playing. “Other people have played better,” Wilson said. “He’s struggled a little bit and I like what Mike Leclerc and Richard Park are doing as well.” . . . The Ducks announced the signings of centers Marc Chouinard and Matt Cullen, both former second-round picks. Cullen, 20, has joined minor league affiliate Baltimore after scoring 45 points in 36 games for St. Cloud State this season. Chouinard, 19, acquired from Winnipeg in the Teemu Selanne trade, has 73 points in 62 games for Halifax in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.