ANAHEIM, Calif. — Corey Perry had the puck and the game on his stick blade early in overtime Friday at the Honda Center. He broke into the clear after Ducks teammate Sami Vatanen chipped the puck to him. He later said he developed a plan on the long skate to the net.
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov never had a chance. Perry sent a laser past his glove for his team-leading 29th goal 1 minute, 25 seconds into overtime to give the NHL-leading Ducks a 3-2 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 17,313.
The Ducks won their fourth consecutive game and improved to 46-20-7 overall, moving two points ahead of the idle Montreal Canadiens in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy. The Avs’ three-game winning streak came to an end and they fell to 33-26-12, six points out of the second wild-card spot.
“I’m extremely proud of our players,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said after they rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the third period, pushing Perry and the Ducks to the brink. “They compete. Even if they scored early in the first period, I though we bounced back and we finished strong. It’s a good team.”
Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau worried before the game that the Ducks might overlook the Avs, with an emotion victory Wednesday over the rival Los Angeles Kings behind them and a showdown Sunday against the Rangers in New York ahead.
Boudreau need not have worried. The Ducks were sharp from the start, taking a 1-0 lead on Jiri Sekac’s goal only 3:37 into the game. The Ducks couldn’t pad their lead despite outshooting the Avs by 14-7 after one period and 25-19 after two.
The Avs took advantage after a scoreless second period, with Jarome Iginla scoring his team-leading 24th goal at 5:28 of the third to tie it and then Ryan O’Reilly beating Frederik Andersen on a shorthanded breakaway after Vatanen couldn’t control the puck at 7:19.
Colorado’s lead didn’t last long, however.
Rakell whipped a shot from the lower portion of the left faceoff circle past Varlamov at 9:04. The Ducks pressed for the go-ahead goal, but couldn’t click and the teams headed to overtime deadlocked at 2-all. Perry won it for the Ducks, his franchise record-tying sixth of his career in OT.
“Sami made a great play at the blue line, got his stick on the puck and poked it ahead,” Perry said of the winner. “I was fortunate to have that breakaway. I had an idea of what I wanted to do and found a way (to score). He probably scouted what I do on breakaways, too.
“I have a couple of shots I like to do and I picked one.”
Perry went high to Varlamov’s glove side, making the most of the Ducks’ 40th shot on goal.
“They played well,” he said of the Avs. “You have to give them credit. They did a lot of good things. They clog up the neutral zone. They frustrate teams with that. If you don’t get the puck deep, you’re going to be in your own zone quite a bit.”
