Depth will be put to the test

The Ducks left for Detroit Wednesday and yes, four lines did make the trip.

After getting limited ice time over the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Ducks’ fourth-line players are looking for that to change against Detroit in the Western Conference finals, which begin Friday night at Joe Louis Arena.

“The great thing about hockey is that it takes a whole team to win,” said veteran forward Brad May, a key contributor on the Ducks’ fourth line. “But it also takes an entire team to lose too. The fourth line is going to be as important as lines 1, 2 and 3, that’s for sure.”

In eliminating Minnesota and Vancouver, the Ducks were not hard-pressed to utilize every player on the bench.

While forwards such as Ryan Getzlaf, Andy McDonald, Samuel Pahlsson, Chris Kunitz and Teemu Selanne averaged more than 19 minutes of ice time, fourth-liners Ryan Shannon, Shawn Thornton and George Parros each have been averaging about 3 1/2 .

May, who has spent time on the fourth line and played a key role in the Ducks’ Game 4 victory over Vancouver, is averaging more than seven minutes.

“We don’t get as much ice time but in the same sense, we’re just as important,” May said. “Every opportunity that comes in front of you, you have to seize.”

It’s likely to be a different story for the Ducks’ fourth line against the Red Wings, who feature scoring power with each shift. In 12 playoff games, Detroit has scored 31 goals spread among 13 players.

While the Red Wings’ top line of Tomas Holmstrom-Henrik Zetterberg-Pavel Datsyuk will get the bulk of the attention, the Ducks do not plan to ignore Detroit’s other forwards.

Lesser-known Red Wings Johan Franzen, Mikael Samuelsson, Daniel Cleary, Robert Lang and Kris Draper each have scored at least two goals during these playoffs and midseason trade pickup Todd Bertuzzi is still respected as one of the league’s top power forwards.

“They force you to chase them around,” Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said of the Red Wings’ offensive depth. “The key is to really just stand your ground, force them to play the perimeter and keep them out of the high-scoring areas where they can be dangerous.”

That scoring depth is one reason May expects the Ducks’ fourth liners to play a big role.

“Probably the No. 1 thing is momentum,” he said of the fourth line. “You don’t want your team to lose any momentum when you go out there.”

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Selanne on the Ducks’ lack of success against Detroit at Joe Louis Arena: “You are only going to win a certain amount of games there, so I think it’s good that we get it done now.”

lonnie.white@latimes.com