After a couple of rocky stretches, the Ducks’ “Generation Y” line of twentysomethings Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner is playing its best hockey of the season, and a big reason is the consistent spark provided by Perry.
Perry, selected by the Ducks in the first round of the 2003 draft, has been on top of his game in recent weeks and his play has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.
“He played really well on our last road trip,” defenseman Sean O’Donnell said about Perry, who has 17 goals, 43 points and a plus-11 rating this season.
O’Donnell said that as the playoffs near, teams are focusing on the Teemu Selanne-Chris Kunitz-Andy McDonald line.
And that makes it more important that the Perry-Getzlaf-Penner line is able to take advantage and score.
“We really need those young guys,” O’Donnell said. “We need the energy of that line.”
Perry, who as a rookie last season played in 56 games and finished with 13 goals and 25 points, said he was more relaxed than he was at this time a year ago. And it’s starting to show.
“Everything is really coming back to me,” said Perry, a 6-foot-3, 202-pound winger from Peterborough, Canada. “I’m just playing my game. Doing the things that got me here…. There’s no thinking before I do something.”
One of the knocks against Perry before he reached the NHL was that he took too many bad penalties. But he is at his best when he plays on the edge and said that there were times last season when he played with too much caution.
“Maybe I was a little hesitant to make that extra play,” said Perry, who had 50 penalty minutes last season. “You know, it was my first year in the league and I was trying to establish myself.”
This season, Perry has slowly returned to his old agitating self but has avoided costly penalties, with only 53 minutes in 79 games.
The Perry-Penner-Getzlaf line accounted for eight points on the Ducks’ recent four-game trip, which ended with a 3-2 victory at St. Louis on Saturday. O’Donnell said the line’s effort in the Ducks’ 1-0 loss at Detroit to start the trip set the tone.
“What’s so amazing about these guys is they don’t feel the intimidation that young guys used to feel,” O’Donnell said.
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The Ducks, 47-20-12 overall and 10-3-1 since March 2, have three regular-season games left starting with Wednesday’s matchup against San Jose at the Honda Center. Forwards Todd Marchant (abdomen) and Travis Moen (hand) did not practice Monday.