That’s when the Western Conference leaders come back from their bye, the five-day gap on every team’s schedule gained by the NHL Players Association as a concession for the new All-Star Game format.

The league’s current cumulative post-bye record is a woeful 4-12-4 with 10 teams, including the Wild, yet to test their ability to avoid coming back rusty. Coaches and managers around the NHL have not hidden their disdain for the debut of the scheduling quirk amid the grind of an 82-game season where momentum is an intangible benefit.

Wild coach Bruce Boudreau didn’t sound worried, even after losing Tuesday to the Chicago Blackhawks, the lead chaser in the race for the top seed in the playoffs.

”I told them to, quite frankly, get some rest and enjoy this break but want to get home to play hockey,” Boudreau said. ”For 4+ months now, you guys have done a tremendous job, and we’ve got something special going on, potentially. So it’s great to get away for a couple days, but the desire to play has got to be there. Not like, `Uh, I want to stay on vacation. I want to stay here.’ You’ve got to want to come back and play, and if we do that then I think we’ll be fine.”

For the players on this team, the best in Wild history, letting body and mind melt away at a tropical beach with a significant postseason run in plain sight is a rather unfathomable scenario.

”What kind of message can you really give `em?” Boudreau said. ”I mean, they’re 39-14.”

Including the six overtime or shootout losses, the Wild have 84 points to rank one behind the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals. They’ve played one fewer game than the Blackhawks and lead their playoffs nemesis by five points. The Wild need 21 points in their last 23 games to beat the 2006-07 franchise record.

Boudreau inherited a team that qualified for the postseason in each of the last four years but endured wild swings in its quality of play during the five seasons in which Mike Yeo was the head coach. This time, the Wild are 14-3-2 following a loss, either regulation or extra time, to stop those long losing streaks in their tracks.

”I think that’s due to our depth and our understanding of how we need to play and being able to get big plays from everybody,” goalie Devan Dubnyk said recently. ”We believe we can win every game. We feel we should win every game. And so when we lose one, we get back to what we’ve been doing.”

The next challenge comes Monday when the Los Angeles Kings visit Xcel Energy Center. Perhaps losing to the Blackhawks will prove to be good timing, particularly given the way the Wild overcame a sluggish second period to finish strong and nearly rally to tie the game before an empty-netter gave Jonathan Toews and Chicago a 5-3 victory.

”We wanted to go into the break with a good feeling, so that one is going to hurt a little bit,” right wing Mikael Granlund said. ”We know we have to make sure we recharge our batteries and come back stronger.”

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Assistant coach Brad Lauer was fired Tuesday after general manager Bob Murray completed his postseason evaluation of the three-time Pacific Division champion Ducks. They lost the Western Conference Finals to the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games last month.

Lauer had been on Boudreau’s staff since their arrival in November 2011. Lauer coached the Ducks’ power play, which ranked 28th in the NHL.

Boudreau has turned the Ducks into a Stanley Cup contender, and they’ve advanced an additional round in each of the past three postseasons. They’ve also blown a 3-2 series lead and lost a Game 7 in each playoff run.

Assistants Trent Yawney and Scott Niedermayer are expected to return.

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Quenneville led Chicago to a league-best 36-7-5 mark after opening the season by earning a point in each of its first 24 games, setting an NHL record. Quenneville previously won the award in 2000 with St. Louis.

In his first full season in Anaheim, Boudreau led the Ducks to the Pacific Division title and the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Anaheim was third overall in the NHL standings after finishing 25th the previous season. Boudreau previously won the award in 2008 with Washington.

MacLean, a finalist for the second straight year, led Ottawa to the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference while overcoming the prolonged absences of several key players.

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When that opportunity arrived late in the third period Wednesday night, Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne absolutely nailed it.

Getzlaf set up Bobby Ryan’s tying goal and Selanne’s tiebreaker 1:04 apart in the waning minutes, and the Ducks rallied for a 4-2 victory over Chicago in a meeting of the NHL’s top two teams.

Jonas Hiller stopped 22 shots, and Peter Holland and Sheldon Souray scored as the Ducks extended their franchise-record home winning streak to 13 games in dramatic fashion. Anaheim (22-3-4) pulled within three points of Chicago atop the overall NHL standings by dealing the Blackhawks just their third regulation loss of the season.

“It means a lot,” said Ryan, who scored his ninth goal of the season. “They’ve made a statement to run away with it so far, and we’ve quietly just gone about our business. To be three points back with a game in hand is huge. … It’s been a fun ride to be a part of, and I hope it continues.”

Getzlaf could barely get out of bed with a case of the flu, lasting just five minutes at the morning skate and taking only one faceoff during the game. The Anaheim captain still delivered two remarkable assists in pressure-packed moments to hand Chicago its third regulation loss in six games after its 21-0-3 start to the season.

“He’s playing an MVP season right now, and it’s fun to watch,” Selanne said.

Getzlaf first fed Ryan on a rush for the tying goal with 5:27 to play before setting up the 42-year-old Selanne for his 670th career goal with 4:23 left, ending the Finnish Flash’s nine-game goal drought. Souray added an empty-net goal in the final minute for Anaheim, which has earned points in 12 straight games (9-0-3).

“We don’t expect to come back, but we always think we can,” Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We’ve got great leadership. Everybody knows their role, and everybody played it.”

Nick Leddy scored a power-play goal and captain Jonathan Toews scored an early short-handed goal for the Blackhawks (24-3-3), who have lost after entering the third period with a lead just twice in 19 games this season — both times to the Ducks.

The largest crowd in Honda Center history was packed with boisterous fans of both teams for a prominent game in this lockout-shortened year. Two clubs with a points percentage above .800 had never met this late in an NHL season, and they lived up to their pedigrees in a fast-paced game showcasing their skill and tenacity.

“They obviously have the advantage right now because they’ve got four points (in their two meetings) and we’ve got one, so I’m sure they’re feeling pretty good,” Chicago’s Patrick Kane said. “But hopefully we can learn from these games and move forward and become a better team because of it. We’ve made a couple of mental mistakes lately that have cost us.”

Corey Crawford made 22 saves for the Blackhawks, who appeared to be headed for a 2-1 road victory until Anaheim scored three times in stunning style.

Chicago has earned 51 of a possible 60 points in its first 30 games this season, but Anaheim is responsible for a third of those missed points after this win and a 3-2 shootout victory at the United Center last month. The Ducks and Blackhawks finish their regular-season series March 29 in Chicago.

“They’ve been having a great season, but they’ve just been under the radar because of our streak and the way we’ve been playing,” Kane said. “But they’re a great team, and we’re going to be ready for them next time.”

Both teams played this showdown without key offensive components. Ducks right wing Corey Perry finished his four-game suspension for an illegal hit, while Chicago’s Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp sat out with injuries.

After Leddy put the Blackhawks ahead on his 22nd birthday during a power play midway through the second period, Chicago appeared to extend its lead when Brandon Bollig scored in front of Hiller with 14:03 to play. Instead, video review confirmed Bollig kicked the puck into the net with his right skate.

“It’s frustrating, considering we thought we were looking at a 3-1 lead at one point,” Toews said. “We have to keep working and doing the right things. We played good enough to win, but made a few mistakes in the last five minutes, and they made us pay for it.”

Anaheim finally broke through when Getzlaf brought the puck down the wing and fed it in front to Ryan, who banged it through Kyle Palmieri’s screen for his ninth goal. Moments later, Selanne scored on a slick shot in close.

Game notes

Anaheim’s Andrew Cogliano skated off with a bloody mouth after the faceoff following Selanne’s goal when Bollig clipped him with a high stick. Bollig wasn’t called for a penalty on the play. Cogliano sustained significant damage to his teeth — but didn’t miss a shift. … The goal was Leddy’s fourth of the season after getting just three in 82 games last year. … Longtime Blackhawks fan Vince Vaughn and Orange County native Matt Barkley attended the game, both wearing jerseys.

The post Ducks rally late over Blackhawks in showdown appeared first on IdealCapper.

Given the way he’s playing, the backup is making a strong case for even more playing time.

Fasth stopped 31 shots for his first NHL shutout, and Francois Beauchemin scored in his 500th career game, lifting the surging Anaheim Ducks to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.

In just a short time — four starts, to be exact — Fasth has earned the trust of his teammates and his coach.

“He’s giving me confidence that I never knew I’d have in him when he came over,” said Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau, whose team won its fourth straight game. “It’s a great, pleasant surprise that Viktor has come over and played so well.”

Fasth, 30, certainly has been quite a find for the Ducks since he signed as a free agent during the offseason. According to the Ducks, Fasth is the first goaltender in NHL history over the age of 30 to win his first four games.

Fasth stymied the struggling Avalanche with one sprawling save after another to help Anaheim start a six-game road swing on a good note.

“Vik’s really on the puck, making it easy on us,” Beauchemin said. “If it wasn’t for him, there was no way we would’ve won that game.”

The Avalanche players were in a sour mood after the game, as they were shut out for a third time this season. That especially didn’t sit too well with Matt Duchene.

“We’ve got to find a way to score, bottom line,” Duchene said. “We’ve been shut out three times in 10 games; it’s unacceptable. It’s almost 50 percent of the games we’re getting shut out. It’s a joke.”

No one is laughing about Fasth’s fast start. In his first four NHL appearances, he’s stopped 101 of 105 shots. But the ever-humble Fasth shrugged off his recent play, even his first shutout.

“It’s nothing you go and think about. You just try to do your best and help the team out as much as you can,” Fasth said. “I’m really glad I had (the shutout). It’s a little bonus. Most important thing is we got the win and started off this road trip really good.”

The competition between Fasth and starter Jonas Hiller is heating up. Not that Boudreau views it quite that way.

“Hilly will be playing very soon,” Boudreau said. “He will be doing the same thing, I hope.”

Fasth’s best save against Colorado was when Milan Hejduk skated in late in the final period and lined a shot that Fasth gobbled up with his chest.

That was the type of night it was for Fasth, who was the Swedish Elite League’s goaltender of the year the previous two seasons.

“Tonight, he stole us a victory,” Boudreau said.

Sheldon Souray and Saku Koivu each added a goal and an assist for the Ducks.

Kyle Palmieri nearly added a goal early in the third period on a 2-on-1 breakaway, but Semyon Varlamov slid over, stuck out of his glove and trapped the puck against the post. The referees took a quick look on replay before upholding the ruling of no goal.

Beauchemin all but wrapped up this game with a goal in the second period that gave the Ducks a commanding 3-0 lead. The play was set up by Koivu, who took a bone-jarring hit along the boards to send the puck into the offensive zone, where Daniel Winnik corralled the puck and sent it over to Beauchemin for his second goal of the season.

The Avalanche had David Jones back in the lineup after he missed the previous two games with a knee injury. But it didn’t ignite the offense as Colorado lost for a second straight time at home.

Boudreau had a chance to catch up with Varlamov, his former goalie, in a Pepsi Center hallway at the morning skate. The two were together while with Washington.

Asked the biggest difference between Varlamov then and now, Boudreau said, “He’s way more consistent. From when I watch, there are no soft goals.”

And then Varlamov proceeded to surrender two soft ones in the first period. He let a liner from Souray near the blue line slip between his pads.

Later, Varlamov failed to bat away a pass through the goal crease, allowing Koivu to tap it in with the Ducks on a 5-on-3 advantage. It was the first goal the Avs allowed in 21 power-play chances at Pepsi Center this season.

“If you look at the overall game, they didn’t outplay us,” Colorado coach Joe Sacco said. “At the end it got a little helter-skelter. We had some chance, we didn’t score. We’ve got to stick with it and keep grinding it out.”

Game notes

Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog (head and leg) missed a sixth straight game. … The injury-riddled Avalanche claimed F Aaron Palushaj off waivers from Montreal. He didn’t play Wednesday. … Ducks D Toni Lydman (flu) was a scratch. The team recalled D Jordan Hendry from Norfolk.

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