Beauchemin Has Been Key on Defense

DENVER â€”  Rookie Francois Beauchemin is averaging more than 27 minutes in the playoffs, ice time usually reserved for the game’s elite defensemen.

And although he has made the occasional mistake in his zone, Beauchemin has played a big role in these playoffs with his timely hard hits.

Coach Randy Carlyle said he is monitoring Beauchemin’s ice time to make sure he doesn’t get worn down. The 25-year-old is second only to Scott Niedermayer in ice time and has logged more minutes in the last four games.

“If you’re playing eight or nine minutes of power-play time, that’s not as difficult or as grinding on the body as it is in penalty-killing situations,� Carlyle said Thursday. “I think it’s the quality of the minutes that are being distributed and the intensity level of those tough minutes that are the ones to monitor.�

Beauchemin said he doesn’t think he played any more than 25 minutes in a game last year when he was with the Syracuse Crunch in the American Hockey League. When the Ducks acquired him in November, Carlyle told the defenseman that he needed to get in better shape.

“Conditioning has been a big factor,� Beauchemin said. “It helps a lot for sure. Being able to play against the top line and against the best players in the league.

“I’m eating well, and I’m getting my rest. I worked hard to get those minutes. I don’t want to give them back.�

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The Ducks’ first-round victory over Calgary not only advanced them to the conference semifinals, but it also served as an important teaching tool.

After matching the Flames hit for hit before wearing them down in seven games, they have applied their physical play to the Avalanche.

Forward Joffrey Lupul said the Flames gave them a sense of how hard they would have to play, and the teams’ message-sending game to end the regular season provided a sneak preview.

“I think it showed us how physical we can be,� Lupul said. “I don’t know if I really would have considered us that physical a team before that. We’re fast and we forecheck hard. But that really brought out a physical aspect in our team.

“We lost Game 1 anyway, but it gave us a good idea of what we were in store for.�

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Avalanche forward Pierre Turgeon was scratched after taking three penalties in Game 3.... Tickets for the Ducks’ first two home games of the Western Conference finals will go on sale Saturday at noon and can be purchased at mightyducks.com, at all Ticketmaster locations and at the Arrowhead Pond box office. The dates will not be set until the San Jose-Edmonton series is completed.