Pahlsson gets another day off

As the Ducks’ resident iron man, Samuel Pahlsson hasn’t missed an NHL game in more than four years.

In fact, Pahlsson doesn’t miss many practices, which made Monday’s session stand out after the hard-working Swedish center didn’t take the ice for the second straight day.

Pahlsson and Coach Randy Carlyle insist there are no injury issues, although teams are often reluctant to release such information during the playoffs. Carlyle called it another “maintenance” day for his top defensive forward.

“It’s just good to get a couple of days off,” Pahlsson said. “If it was a game, I’d play. Now that we get the chance to rest, I want to take advantage of it.”

If anyone deserves time off, it could be Pahlsson, who has played in 275 consecutive regular-season games since being a healthy scratch on Feb. 5, 2003. He also has played in 47 playoff games.

“You get worn down and sometimes you need a rest,” he said.

Matched up against Minnesota’s Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra in the first round and Vancouver’s Henrik and Daniel Sedin in the second round, Pahlsson has been instrumental in slowing down those prolific offensive players.

The shutdown line of Pahlsson, Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer had a big series against the Canucks, combining for three goals and five assists. The Sedin twins teamed for just one goal and one assist.

“We felt very good and very comfortable with that line all season and now they’re being rewarded on the offensive side of it for some of the hard work that they’ve put in,” Carlyle said.

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If he wanted to, Shawn Thornton could sit back and savor this season with the Ducks.

The 29-year-old left wing has played parts of 10 seasons in the American Hockey League but, until signing with the Ducks this season, had only 31 NHL games to his ledger.

With the Ducks, he has played in 48 regular-season games and another seven in the playoffs.

“I try not to think about it too much,” Thornton said. “I’ll think about it another day. It’s been an unbelievable experience. I’m trying not to be in awe of it.”

Playing on the fourth line with Brad May and Ryan Shannon, Thornton has averaged only 3 1/2 minutes. But he made the most of it in Game 5 when he and May had a strong shift in the second overtime to start a sequence that led to Scott Niedermayer’s winning goal.

“I think we have to earn our ice time,” Thornton said. “If we have a couple of good shifts, usually we’ll get rewarded with a few more. If we go out and have a bad shift, we probably won’t get more. That’s the way it should be.”

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For the most part, Carlyle has gone with Joe DiPenta and Kent Huskins as his third defense pairing, but Ric Jackman could work his way back into the mix.

Jackman, who played in 24 games with the Ducks after being acquired in January, said he is recovered from back spasms that have kept him out of action. “It was pretty sore there for a while,” he said.

Jackman has never played in the postseason and said being injured at this time of year is frustrating.

“I don’t know what my situation is, but I’ll be prepared to play whenever they need me,” Jackman said.

eric.stephens@latimes.com