Charron Gives Players Time Off to Regroup

Bruised, battered and all but out of the Stanley Cup playoff picture, the Ducks took the day off Saturday. They won’t practice today either, hosting FanFair at the Arrowhead Pond from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. instead.

Coach Guy Charron figures the time is right for the beleaguered Ducks, last in the Pacific Division, to rest and relax a bit. Besides, they still have Monday and Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday’s game against the Central Division-leading St. Louis Blues.

Other than lightening the mood in the dressing room, Charron hasn’t changed much of the Ducks’ game plan since taking over after Craig Hartsburg was fired Dec. 14. The Ducks are 3-4-2-1 under Charron.

“We’ve tried to focus on minimizing our turnovers and stopping scoring chances for the opposing teams,” Charron said when asked about any changes to the program. “We were really maximizing turnovers there for a while. Now, we’re trying to minimize turnovers. As far back as the Detroit game [a 2-1 overtime loss Dec. 22], we’ve tried to focus on that. There haven’t been too many systems changes. . . . I can count on one hand the number of practices we’ve had since I took over.”

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With standout forwards Paul Kariya, Mike Leclerc and Steve Rucchin sidelined because of injuries, the Ducks’ four-goal outburst Friday against the Calgary Flames was a welcome sign for the team.

“Scoring four goals was great, but we’ve got to minimize our goals against,” Charron said after the Ducks’ 4-4 tie. “For us to score four goals every night is a big demand.”

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Teemu Selanne has three goals and an assist in two games since chucking his graphite sticks and returning to his old wooden standbys.

Selanne ended a career-high 14-game goal drought with a third-period goal in the Ducks’ 3-2 overtime victory Wednesday against the Florida Panthers. He had his first two-goal game this season in Friday’s tie against Calgary.

A first-period assist Friday on Marty McInnis’ second power-play goal of the game was Selanne’s 400th in his 603rd NHL game.

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Defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski was involved in his first NHL fight when he tangled with Florida’s Marcus Nilson. Charron said he thought Vishnevski held his own against Nilson, but would like to have veteran enforcer Jim Cummins offer Vishnevski some tips.