from Eric Stephens of the OC Register,
Could the trip serve as a renewal for Corey Perry? As a pivotal Game 4 approaches, the longtime Ducks winger found a place of comfort during the team’s practice at the home of the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets.
Perry found himself wearing the same practice jersey color as Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf, signifying the possibility that he’ll be on a line with the center and have a spot on the power play’s first unit.
Those two places were the goal-scoring winger’s home for many seasons. Getzlaf and Perry were joined at the hip, with Perry racking up 30-goal campaigns and reaching his peak with his definitive 2010-11 that was 50 goals, 98 points and the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.
The reunion for Game 4 is an option, which Carlyle acknowledged, as Patrick Eaves is nursing a right foot injury and watched practice with another sidelined regular, defenseman Kevin Bieksa. Eaves was no longer wearing a boot on the foot but Carlyle said if he can’t skate, it’s highly unlikely he’ll play.
So Perry returned home – at least for Game 4.
“I’m comfortable there obviously,” Perry said. “”Yeah, I was there for a long time. It’s something that if it ends up that way, it’s a good thing for me. I just got to embrace it and roll with it.”
While he might have been smiling in practice and had a noticeable jump in his step that Carlyle noted, Perry tried to downplay the impact of being back with Getzlaf. He had an overtime winner in Game 3 of their first-round sweep of Calgary but that is his only goal of these playoffs. And that’s just one in the past two postseasons.
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