Kariya Impresses His Teammates

Duck center Steve Rucchin broke for the Detroit net as soon as he saw Paul Kariya intercept a poor clearing pass from Red Wing goalie Chris Osgood in the second period Sunday.

Rucchin figured if anyone could get him the puck in a position to score it would be his skillful teammate.

He had that right.

Kariya whipped a backhander into the slot, Rucchin’s one-timer caught Osgood out of position and the Ducks had a 2-0 lead.

“From my vantage point, he didn’t even look,” Rucchin said of Kariya’s pass from the right-wing corner. “Osgood made it back to the net pretty quick. But it was pretty much of a gimme [goal]. The credit all goes to [Kariya].”

Duck right wing Teemu Selanne marveled at the play.

“I could do that,” Selanne cracked at game’s end. “That’s what you say when you see somebody make a great play. I play a lot with Paul, but sometimes I just say, ‘Wow.’ ”