Ducks look for line of attack

After winning five of their first seven playoff games, the Ducks find themselves in a tight spot heading into today’s Game 3 at Vancouver in a Western Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.

As a result of their 2-1, double-overtime loss in Game 2, the Ducks have given up home-ice advantage and need a strong effort to combat the resilient Canucks, who controlled the flow of the game better Friday than they did in Game 1 on Wednesday.

For the Ducks’ fourth-line skaters, today would be a good time to step up after playing little in Game 2.

“If we have a bad shift right off the bat, it definitely will affect our ice time in a game,” said forward George Parros, who picked up two minor roughing penalties in the first period Friday.

After the first intermission, the Ducks’ fourth line of Shawn Thornton, Ryan Shannon and Parros hardly left the bench. They combined for six shifts the rest of the game and failed to make an impact.

“We know what we have to do in order to be effective,” said Parros, who led the NHL with 18 major penalties for fighting during the regular season. “From big body hits to getting more pucks to the net, that’s our role on this team. Momentum is a big part of the game, and our goal is to string together a good couple of shifts where we keep the puck in their zone.”

Getting production from the Ducks’ grinders is important in this series because Vancouver uses a four-line rotation. That might have played a role in the Ducks’ Game 2 defeat.

Each Canucks forward had at least 22 shifts and more than 13 minutes of ice time, while the Ducks stuck with a three-line rotation and their forwards seemed to tire in the second overtime.

“We have to go out and play physical and create some energy; that’s our job here in the playoffs,” Thornton said. “Whatever we can chip in offensively would be a big help to the team.”

That has not been a problem for the Canucks, who won Game 2 on fourth-line winger Jeff Cowan’s overtime goal.

“At some point, hopefully, they can make a contribution on the score sheet for us,” Coach Randy Carlyle said about his fourth-line players.

With veteran Brad May, who was given a three-game suspension for a punch thrown at Minnesota defenseman Kim Johnsson, eligible for Game 3, Carlyle will have options filling out the Ducks’ fourth line.

“We’ve moved people around in that grouping,” Carlyle said last week. “But we think at this point that the speed of Shannon and the size of Thornton and Parros gives us a comfort level.

“Those players have earned the opportunity because they have been with the team all year. Although they haven’t played in every game, we think that it’s important that those foot soldiers get recognition.”

Second-year forward Corey Perry, a key two-way player for the Ducks this season, understands the importance of the fourth-line skaters in the series against Vancouver. It’s a position he played for the Ducks in the playoffs last season.

“I know how much the team appreciates guys who fill that role,” Perry said. “They have to go out there and throw their bodies around but they also have to be smart in not taking any penalties and staying out of the box. It’s a tough job.”

A duty Parros said that the Ducks’ fourth-liners are prepared to do every game.

“We’re ready to do anything we can do to benefit our team,” Parros said. “It’s a role we know.”

lonnie.white@latimes.com