Corey Perry

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry met at a selection camp for an under-18 team -- or so Perry recalls. Getzlaf thought it wasn't until after the 2003 draft, in which the Ducks chose him 19th and Perry 28th, that they began forming the bond that led to having their names engraved on the Stanley Cup in 2007 and on Team Canada's roster for the Vancouver Olympics. After a moment's thought, Getzlaf decided Perry was right. "He made that team and I didn't," the rangy center said, "so that's why he remembers it."

Kings left wing Dustin Penner is an enigma. He's a skillful player in the muscular body of an enforcer, a proven scorer who produced only seven goals this season, a bright thinker in a game that's too fast to ponder much of anything. He had no points in the Kings' last nine regular-season games but had a goal and an assist in their first-round elimination of the Vancouver Canucks. Slotted alongside the savvy Mike Richards and quick-shooting Jeff Carter, Penner was an irresistible force and an unmovable object in the Kings' two playoff victories over the St. Louis Blues, recording a goal and assist in Game 1 and two key assists in Game 2 to put the Kings in command, 2-0, heading into Game 3 on Thursday at Staples Center.

Something transports Corey Perry to the net. It isn't magic, even if it seems like some mystical force suddenly drops the 6-foot-3, 212-pound winger in front of some nervous goaltender. One moment Perry is breathing down the goalie's neck from behind, his stick tapping as it juggles the puck and then, whoosh, suddenly he is in front of the net, the puck still on his stick. The goalie is keyed up, coiled, maybe even desperate. Will Perry flick the puck low? Will he treat his stick as a shovel and heave the puck into a corner?

When: 7. Where: Rogers Arena. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: none. Records: Ducks 33-35-11, Canucks 49-21-9. Record vs. Canucks: 2-1. Update: Three games are left on the Ducks' schedule, all on the road. But many of the Ducks' players will be representing their respective countries in the world championships, which will be played next month in Finland and Sweden. Two major assets for Team Canada would be Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf and linemate Corey Perry.

It wasn't the ideal situation for the Ducks, trailing by a goal going into the third period on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Or maybe it was. Corey Perry continued his torrid play, scoring twice in the final period as the Ducks upended the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, on Saturday at the United Center. Perry moved into the NHL scoring lead with 44 goals and the Ducks passed Chicago for seventh place in the Western Conference. Even better, they are three points ahead of ninth-place Dallas with only seven games left in the regular season.

What happened in Vegas most assuredly did not remain in Vegas. Not the makeup session for a magazine photo shoot. "That's a first," Corey Perry said, chuckling. Or helping to make, and hand out, cotton candy. "That was a first as well," Perry said. Becoming a (temporary) member of Blue Man Group. "The list goes on, I guess," Perry said. "It was all fun. And it was all different. Something I've never done before, took me out of my element. " The clips of Perry's most excellent, out-of-element adventure in Las Vegas are video evidence that it did happen.

Under intense pressure to re-establish supremacy on home ice, Canadian Olympic hockey executives announced Wednesday a 23-man roster for the Vancouver Games built around youth, a mobile but tough defense and a deep corps of internationally experienced, two-way forwards. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, 20, was among the 15 first-time Olympians and 12 players 25 or younger were selected to the team during a nationally televised news conference. The captain will be defenseman Scott Niedermayer, one of seven members of the struggling Ducks to earn an Olympic nomination Wednesday.

Ducks tonight VS. COLORADO When: 7. Where: Honda Center. On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 830. Records: Ducks 42-28-5, Avalanche 28-38-8. Record vs. Avalanche: 3-0. Update: The Ducks have won five of their last six games, improving their chances of earning a playoff spot. Corey Perry leads the NHL with 44 goals. Colorado has been playing for next season for a few months now and has lost 12 of its last 14 games. Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk scored his 20th goal Saturday against the Kings, making this the 11th consecutive season he has scored 20 or more goals.

Ducks tonight AT COLUMBUS When: 4 PDT. Where: Nationwide Arena. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 830. Records: Ducks 2-3-1, Blue Jackets, 2-2-0. Record vs. Blue Jackets (2009-10): 1-3-0. Update: Now that Bobby Ryan is on the top line again with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, the magic seems to be back. The three have combined for six goals and 13 assists in the last three games. Rookie defenseman Cam Fowler, who suffered a broken nose Sunday during the Ducks' 3-2 victory over Phoenix, was on the ice with his teammates Tuesday in Columbus as the Ducks prepared to open a four-game trip beginning with the Blue Jackets, a team spokesman said.

The slow-starting Ducks wanted a jump-start, and they got one. Corey Perry was two-thirds of the way to a hat trick only 8 1/2 minutes into the Ducks' 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in front of 15,111 Wednesday at the Honda Center. Perry didn't get a third goal for what would have been the first hat trick of his career -- Ryan Carter scored the Ducks' other goal -- but Perry only shrugged. "If it ever happens, it happens," he said. "I'm not pushing it." Coach Randy Carlyle didn't even have him on the ice with an empty net at the end. "There was an old guy who didn't want to get off," he said in a teasing jab at Teemu Selanne.

This could be the most important week of Dean Lombardi's six seasons as general manager of the Kings. If he acquires a high-impact scorer by the trade deadline of noon Pacific time Monday, he can salvage a season that began with high expectations but descended into a grim battle to score goals and make the playoffs. Failure to reach the postseason could cost Lombardi his job and there would be no reason to argue he should stay. The only elite player available and able to deliver the necessary scoring jolt is Columbus left wing Rick Nash , who reportedly listed the Kings among teams he'd be willing to join in a trade.

If the Ducks are to have any hope of returning to the playoffs this spring they're going to need a lot more gutsy performances like the one they turned in Wednesday at Honda Center, where they beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, in overtime. And they're probably going to need a lot more breaks like the one that set up Corey Perry's game-winning goal. Perry inexplicably avoided a tripping penalty after sending Carolina's Jussi Jokinen to the ice two minutes into the extra period.

The All-Star game is history — bonus points if you can remember who played for which team — and the best part of the NHL season will begin Tuesday. The scramble for playoff berths intensifies and general managers must decide if they'll be buyers or sellers at the Feb. 27 trading deadline. The cutoff for playoff qualifiers last season was 93 points in the East and 97 in the West, and those numbers should be about the same. Although positions within the top eight might change, teams that weren't in playoff spots at the All-Star break are unlikely to reach the playoffs.

Most valuable player = mostly vanishing privacy. You would think a league MVP in a major, celebrity-driven market would see his privacy vaporize in a dizzying flurry of red carpets, photo drive-bys and TMZ blurbs. Thankfully, there are rare exceptions to that expected course of events. Corey Perry, the Ducks forward who is the NHL's reigning MVP, recently showed that his skill for anticipation does not lie only on the ice. He seemed to know where the question was headed after the first couple of words and got off his response in rapid-fire fashion.

Game 46 for the Ducks featured tight defense, superb goaltending and one of those faceoffs leading to goal, a well-executed play coaches always envision but rarely get to see in a game. The big picture? Anaheim defeated Ottawa, 2-1, on Saturday at Honda Center, meaning it was the first time in 12 road games the Senators did not pick up at least a point. It was the fifth straight home victory for the Ducks, who have recorded points in eight consecutive games. Goalie Jonas Hiller is on a 5-0-1 run. Scoring for the Ducks were forward Corey Perry and defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.

The Ducks spent every waking second sending their regrets for not showing up for their Stanley Cup playoff opener Wednesday. "When you work so hard for long to get in [the playoffs], like we did, there can be a little letdown," center Ryan Getzlaf said. The cliches oozed after losing to Nashville. The hows and whys had the proper mea culpa feel. "That first game was too much individual," defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky said. "We got to the third period and everyone started thinking, 'What can I do?