Another summer is upon us, which means another round of player reviews. AnaheimDucks.com is featuring a different Ducks player throughout the summer (in numerical order), highlighting key stats while also keeping an eye on next season. We continue with winger Corey Perry.
2016-17 Player Review: Corey Perry
After enduring a regular season that was certainly below his normal standards, Corey Perry was a major factor for the Ducks in the playoffs and made some history along the way.
Perry's 19 goals in 82 games was his lowest output in a full season since 2006-07, but his four goals in 17 playoff games contributed to the Ducks advancing to the Western Conference Final for the second time in three years. Three of those goals were overtime game-winners, as Perry became the third player in NHL history to tally three OT goals in a single postseason, joining Maurice Richard (1951) and Mel Hill (1939).
The first came in Game 3 of the First Round at Calgary, to complete an improbable comeback victory on a night when the Ducks trailed 4-1 late in the second period. Perry's goal 1:30 into overtime came when he threw the puck on net from the right wing boards, and it deflected off Calgary's Michael Stone in front and past goalie Brian Elliott.
"You never say never," said Perry, who was a plus-5 on the night. "You just keep pushing shift after shift, get pucks to the net and we found a way tonight. That's all that matters."
It was Perry's goal in Game 5 that was the most memorable and marked an iconic moment in Ducks history in a game that would soon be dubbed The Comeback on Katella. Trailing 3-0 late in the third period, Anaheim scored three times in the final 3:16 of regulation to tie the game. The Ducks became the first team in NHL history to tie a Stanley Cup Playoff game with three straight goals with that little time remaining.
The moment that once again ignited the Honda Center crowd came 6:57 into overtime when Ryan Getzlaf found Perry cutting through the slot and Perry took the puck to the right post, waiting for goalie Cam Talbot to commit before sliding the puck inside the right post for the game-winner.
"It's something you can't explain," Perry said. "I'll take them whenever I can get them. It's nice to see them go in. It doesn't matter when. It's a matter of getting shots on net. When I saw I had an opening to the net, I kind of knew what I wanted to do."
Perry's third OT goal came in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final in Nashville, as the Ducks were on the wrong end of a playoff comeback. Nashville tied that game with just 34.5 seconds left in regulation, but the Ducks recovered to win it just shy of the halfway point of the first OT. That's when Perry shot the puck toward the net again from the right boards and it redirected off Predators defenseman P.K Subban's stick and got past goalie Pekka Rinne. The tally was originally credited to former Ducks center Nate Thompson, who was battling in front, before replays showed it was Perry's goal - and a historical one at that.
"We knew coming into overtime, you put that jersey on you, go out and play like you did in the first period; hard-nosed, pucks in deep. We kind of changed the momentum there. We got some chances, and we got the break."
Perry didn't get enough breaks during a 2016-17 campaign where his scoring output didn't resemble the man who won the Hart Trophy and Rocket Richard Trophy with 50 goals in 2010-11. He had 43, 33 and 34 goals in the three previous seasons to this one, but his struggles led to him being separated from longtime linemate and fellow 2003 draftee Getzlaf in a hope to find chemistry with others.
Perry and Getzlaf are the two remaining players from the 2007 Stanley Cup champion team and each scored goals against Washington on the March 12 night that iconic team was honored with a 10-Year Celebration at Honda Center.
But they've also been a part of some recent playoff disappointments, the most recent of which led Perry to say, "There is a lot of fight in this room, and this one's gonna sting for awhile."
Despite a disappointing season scoring-wise, Perry's work ethic and ability to get under opponents' skin has never been in question, and it remains a perfect fit for a Ducks team that lives to agitate. At 32, you can be assured he will return in 2017-18 working diligently to right the wrongs of the past season.
