If I’m Todd McLellan, I’m spending the next week spending all of my time on the power play because the Ducks cannot stay out of the penalty box.

Last night, the Ducks got called for five minor penalties even though that number easily could have been doubled. If the Oilers are smart and can stay out of the box, then they should be able to take advantage of all the power plays that are sure to come their way from the constant stick work and fencing practice that’s being doled out by the cheaters Ducks.

The Ducks playoff PK has been a miserable 61.9% and the Oilers need to find a way to take advantage of their mediocrity. As of this writing, the Oilers power play unit is clicking at a reasonable 19.o% which ranks sixth among teams that are still in the playoffs, but they can be better. With Anaheim’s PK ranking dead last amongst playoff teams and an extreme likeliness that they’ll keep ending up in the box multiple times per night, Edmonton needs to find a way to make them pay for it.

So far in the playoffs, the Oilers have scored four power play goals and two of those came in last night’s game. From where I blog, I see a big opportunity there that the Oilers should be able to use to their benefit.

If there’s one thing that last night’s game taught me, it’s that the Ducks are going to be as dirty as the refs will let them get away with and going to mean that the Oilers end up with the man advantage. Basically, Anaheim seems like they’re running with the Detroit Bad Boys game plan where the refs will only call them for five or six of the 300 infractions they commit on a nightly basis. The Oilers need to make them pay for the five chances they do get.

On the flip side, for as important as it is that the Oilers to make the Ducks pay for their cheating ways they also need to stay disciplined. I can see how it would be insanely tough to ignore Ryan Kesler’s cheap shots throughout a best-of-seven series but it’s a detail that they need to pay attention to. Anaheim’s PP is running at 25% and that’s the kind of clip that can easily get them back into hockey games if the Oilers give them unnecessary chances with retaliatory penalties.If Edmonton can channel their inner Gandhi and remain disciplined then the Ducks’ insistence on swinging their sticks will come back to haunt them.

If Edmonton can channel their inner Gandhi and remain disciplined then the Ducks’ insistence on swinging their sticks will come back to haunt them. The chances will come and Jay Woodcroft had better be drawing up all kinds of power play schemes to make sure that Anaheim feels the shame.