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Ducks, Stars like to rough it

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Times Staff Writer

Mark Twain once said familiarity breeds contempt. That may be the best description of the first-round Western Conference series between the Ducks and the Dallas Stars.

Eight regular-season games between the Pacific Division rivals has fostered plenty of hostilities, and the Stanley Cup playoffs figure to take that to another level.

The battle of bruises begins Thursday with Game 1 at the Honda Center.

“It’s the playoffs,” said Ducks forward Travis Moen. “It’s going to be physical no matter what. I think both teams will come out and there’ll be crashing and banging.

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“They’ll try to set the tone. We’ve just got to match it.”

The Ducks have always proved to be game in that department. They led the NHL in penalty minutes for the second consecutive season with 1,481. They didn’t let last season’s 1,457 penalty minutes stand in the way of winning their first Stanley Cup title.

“They’re probably one of the most, if not the most physical team in the NHL,” Stars forward Steve Ott said. “They’ve got a lot of grit to their game.

“I don’t think we’re based solely on physical play. But I think our guys are up for the challenge. The way Anaheim plays, they’re always starting with their physical side and they play their game off that.”

Ott knows about being physical. He leads Dallas in penalty minutes this season with 147.

The question with the Ducks, as it often has been, is whether they can keep their wild side in check. They’ve often learned a hard lesson against the Stars.

The math has been simple. Dallas took five of the first six meetings this season by parlaying timely power-play goals into victories.

“Their special teams in those games were a huge part of their success against us,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “That’ll be a sore spot and a spot we have to make sure to shore up if we’re going to have success.”

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The Ducks have had limited success. In their three regular-season wins against the Stars, including the last two in March, the Ducks didn’t give up a power-play goal. But staying disciplined and keeping the trips to the penalty box to a minimum will be the objective.

“I think we’ve been a more composed group in general since January,” Ducks forward George Parros said. “I think we’ve learned how to control ourselves. It’s an emotional game and we’ll have outbursts here and there. But I think we’ve done a pretty good job.”

Ott figures to challenge that. An agitator in the Sean Avery mold without the sideshow, the native of the small Canadian province of Prince Edward Island is at his best when he gets under the skin of his opponents. He has done just that against the Ducks.

Stars goalie Marty Turco told the Dallas Morning News opposing players can’t stand Ott.

“This isn’t WWE stuff,” he said. “They really do hate him and most of it is well-deserved.”

Ott, if he can help it, will make himself a factor.

“You draw a penalty and it bodes well for your team,” he said. “We hope to score on the power play, but it’s also to regain momentum in the game. I just play that hard style and sometimes guys don’t like it when they’re hit.

“I’m not going to go after Brad May or George Parros. Getting their skill guys is the key.”

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The Ducks say they can’t focus on Ott. They have to stop Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards and Mike Modano from scoring.

“The last couple of games, we’ve just tried to play our game and don’t let him dictate what goes on,” Moen said of Ott. “Just play physical. And take the mentality that you don’t let anything affect you no matter what people say.”

Said Parros: “He does his thing. We just have to keep our cool. We can’t lose sight of what our goal is.”

The Ducks could get their own agitator back soon: leading goal scorer Corey Perry skated for the first time since suffering a severed quadriceps tendon March 6. Perry says he hopes to play later in the series.

But the decisive factor might be channeling their aggression.

“We have to find a way to play hard and be aggressive but not get in the box,” defenseman Scott Niedermayer said. “They have a good power play. They have some talent there that can move the puck around. It tires you out if you’re always trying to kill penalties.”

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eric.stephens@latimes.com

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