Fatigue hitting Ducks hard in Western finals

The postseason can be exhausting, and playing four games in seven nights going from an emotional Game 7 to wrap up one series to the Western Conference finals is starting to take a toll on the Ducks.

Playing the Predators inside the NHL’s toughest arena in nearly 20 years sure isn’t helping.

Coach Randy Carlyle said Wednesday that his Ducks just ran out of gas after taking a 1-0 lead Tuesday night in Game 3. The Predators scored twice in the third, not counting two goals waved off for goalie interference, and pulled out a 2-1 victory for a 2-1 lead in the series.

Carlyle said he thought his Ducks were flat with emotion and credited the Predators for taking that out of them. A schedule that had the Ducks starting this series less than 48 hours after ousting the Oilers in a deciding seventh game doesn’t help either.

“You look back and you say, ‘Hey, we played Game 7 a week ago today,’ ” Carlyle said Wednesday. “You know, so that’s four games in six nights or seven nights. And then you get more of an understanding of the intensity and the drainage that does take place on your people.”

Then there’s the challenge of playing in Nashville, where the Predators just notched their 10th straight playoff win dating to last season.

It’s the NHL’s longest streak since the Red Wings won 10 straight in 1997-98 after the Avalanche went 11-0 in 1996-97. The Predators are just the 10th team to win at least 10 straight at home in the playoffs since the NHL expanded in 1967-68.

FREDERICK BREEDON/GETTY Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf and the rest of the team are running on fumes in their matchup with the Predators.