Rucchin Hurts for Team Too

He hasn’t been part of the problems, but he hopes to be part of the solution . . . soon.

Duck center Steve Rucchin has agonized over both the staph infection in his left ankle and watching the Ducks’ 2-8-1 skid. How much have the Ducks missed him? They have used three different players on the line with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne. None has filled the void.

Ted Donato, Tony Hrkac and Marty McInnis all have had a turn in the 10 games that Rucchin has been out. The problem is, Rucchin does too much.

“We miss him on faceoffs, on the power play, on penalty killing,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “He’s a big guy who wins a lot of battles on the boards.”

Hartsburg might have Rucchin back in the lineup within the next week. In fact, he didn’t rule out Rucchin playing tonight against San Jose. A more likely scenario would be against the New York Islanders Wednesday or in Pittsburgh next Saturday.

“The pain is going to be there,” said Rucchin, who has increased his time on the ice the last few days. “It’s not so much the threshold of pain as it is playing longer until it reaches that threshold. I think I’m close.

“It’s been hard to watch the last few weeks. You want to be there with the guys during the good times and bad times. We’re having bad times right now. Hopefully, when I come back, we’ll have a nice winning streak going.”

TONIGHT

at San Jose, 7:30

Channel 9

* Site--San Jose Arena.

* Radio--KOGO (6O0).

* Records--Ducks 20-22-6-1; San Jose 21-22-6-4.

* Record vs. Sharks--2-0.

* Update--Selanne has 31 goals in 34 games against the Sharks.