Rucchin Does the Dirty Work

How much the Mighty Ducks have missed Steve Rucchin the previous two seasons was evident again Wednesday night.

Rucchin went goal-less. Yet he was a big reason the Ducks came away with a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. What the 11,729 fans at the Arrowhead Pond saw was vintage Rucchin, which has been on the shelf much of the past two seasons because of injuries.

He did the bump and grind, like in his prime, behind the net to set up Paul Kariya’s second-period goal. He showed the patience of a veteran, waiting out the Predator defense, then fed Petr Sykora for the game-winning goal on a third-period power play.

The assists extended Rucchin’s point streak to seven games, matching his career high.

“It’s a long year,” Rucchin said. “There may be times when you guys are coming to me and asking, ‘What’s going on.’ But as long as the team wins, and I can help it, that is good enough.”

Rucchin was unable to help the past two seasons, missing 110 of 164 games due to injuries. And the Ducks didn’t win.

Those things appear to be behind him. Rucchin leads the Ducks with 16 points.

“Everyone talks about all the guys we brought in this year, but to me Steve is the guy every night,” Duck Coach Mike Babcock said.

Rucchin was big on the power play in the third period.

Kariya passed to Rucchin in the corner. Rucchin held on to it until Sykora was able to slip unseen on the backside. His goal gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead five minutes into the period.

A power-play goal in the third period, a novel idea and a big step forward for a team that finished last with the man advantage last season.

“A year ago, that game would have probably been, 1-1, or worse,” Kariya said. “That’s the difference we’ve been talking about.”

The difference in beating the Predators, the Western Conference’s last-place team, was necessary to extend their hopes of being a playoff contender. The Ducks started the game five points out of eighth place and play six of their next seven games on the road.

“There was no question we had to win that one,” Rucchin said. “Two points is two points.”

The Ducks got the two by holding off Nashville down the stretch.

The predators didn’t have a shot on goal until 13 minutes 5 seconds of the first period, but ended up out-shooting the Ducks, 35-25. Nashville had 17 shots in the third period. Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere made key saves, and caught a break when Jason York, traded by the Ducks two weeks ago, hit the post on a power play with less than five minutes left.

“If there was any justice in the hockey world, that one goes in,” York said.

It didn’t and the Ducks managed to kill three penalties in the final nine minutes.

Kariya scored the Ducks’ first goal at 12:04 of the second period. But it was Rucchin who did the dirty work.

“Steve’s an honest player who has more skill than your average 6-4 guy,” Babcock said. “He knocks pucks down and makes good plays.”