Ducks seek finishing touch

The Ducks gave the Minnesota Wild a spark of hope with a dreary Game 4 performance in a 4-1 loss that allowed the underdogs to play another day in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Now the question is whether the Ducks’ fighting performance at the end of Tuesday’s game turned that spark into a raging fire.

It was a bad effort that turned embarrassing when winger Brad May dropped Minnesota Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson with a right hand that drew a match penalty and, on Wednesday, a three-game suspension.

The Ducks hope the game was simply an aberration as they try to close out the best-of-seven series in Game 5 tonight at the Honda Center.

“Nobody’s happy with how we played that game,” Ducks forward Teemu Selanne said. “They were more desperate than we were.”

The Ducks were out of character and paid for it.

Minnesota managed a series-high 40 shots after averaging just under 26 in the first three games. The Wild’s top offensive players all broke loose as they easily navigated through a Ducks defense that was missing Francois Beauchemin, who became ill after being hit in the mouth by the puck in Game 3.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored his first career playoff goal while Brian Rolston and Mark Parrish got their first goals of the series. Marian Gaborik also scored and Pavol Demitra had two assists as the Wild won for the first time in eight playoff games against the Ducks.

“We never expected to shut them out the entire series,” Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. “They’re skilled guys and they’re going to put the puck in the net. We’ve got to make sure they don’t do it more times than we do.”

Beauchemin’s absence was felt. Kent Huskins, who took Beauchemin’s spot alongside Scott Niedermayer, was called for a hooking penalty on Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard, which led to Gaborik’s tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period.

Aaron Rome, a minor-league call-up, played in only his second NHL game because of the defensive adjustment and was on the ice when Parrish scored, capping the Wild’s three-goal outburst.

It is no surprise that a lot of attention was paid to Beauchemin on Wednesday as he skated through practice with a partial cage attached to his visor to protect his jaw. He said the swelling hasn’t subsided as much as he’d like and will ultimately decide if he can play after skating this morning.

“I wanted to play, but it was pretty swollen,” said Beauchemin, who scored twice in a 3-2 Game 2 victory. “It was pretty sore. No sense for me to go out there and maybe hurt it a little more.”

The Ducks also know they need to play with more discipline. May’s action amid several skirmishes earned the enmity of many Wild players, yet winger Shawn Thornton said he doesn’t expect there to be any carry-over.

“I think they’ve got the fuel they need with their backs against the wall,” Thornton said. “I’m more focused about us. We’ve got to get our game back up to where it needs to be. The other stuff sorts itself out.”

Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said they need to match the desperation Minnesota showed in Game 4. A victory will send the Ducks to the conference semifinals for the second consecutive season.

“The implications of [Tuesday’s] game was pretty evident and they played the game as such,” Pronger said. “Now we’ve got to do that here at home. We’ve got the last line change, we’ve got the matchups, we’ve got those things that come with home ice. We’ve got to take advantage of that.”

eric.stephens@latimes.com