Modano Up Next for Rucchin

Center Steve Rucchin’s next defensive assignment: Dallas’ Mike Modano.

Rucchin probably will get started on that chore Thursday, when the Ducks face the Stars in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Rucchin’s play on Detroit’s Sergei Fedorov was a big reason the Ducks upset the Red Wings in the first round.

“He’s a lot like Fedorov,” Rucchin said of Modano. “He’s a big guy who has a lot of skill, as a scorer and a passer. But it’s not just going to be me out there. It’s Mike [Leclerc], Rob [Niedermayer], Keith [Carney] or whoever is on the ice with me.”

Modano was the Stars’ leading scorer with 85 points, including 28 goals, during the regular season. He had four goals and 10 points in the six-game, first-round series against Edmonton.

“I think we have to learn from the Detroit series,’ Rucchin said. “We can’t be so concerned defensively that we don’t contribute some offensively.”

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The Ducks will face a different team in the Stars, who will play a much more physical style than the Red Wings.

“We’ll find out how we’ll handle it, but we can’t play like we want to run them out of the rink,” Coach Mike Babcock said. “We can’t just run at them to do it. I just saw a series like that.”

Babcock was referring to Edmonton, a speed team, trying to match the Stars’ physical play.

Still, the Ducks said they would not back down either.

“I’m sure they are going to come at us and try to run us out of the building,” Leclerc said. “We have to be ready for that and give some of it back.”