Maybe it’ll be the sight of the Dallas Stars, who are scheduled to visit Honda Center on Tuesday night. After all, the last time Perry scored a goal was against the Stars on Dec. 13 in Dallas, 13 games ago.
Even that goal, the third in four games after an 18-game goal-less drought, went for naught as the Stars came right back with five straight goals in their 6-2 victory.
Perry certainly isn’t accustomed to being caught in these lulls. He has led or tied for the team lead in goals in each of the last six seasons and eight of the last nine, averaging a goal every 2.2 games in that span.
Anaheim, which traded with the Stars to move up in the talent-laden 2003 NHL Draft and then acquired Perry with the 28th pick, certainly has incentives to be patient with the 31-year-old, especially knowing he’s set to make $8.625 million each season through 2021.
The rise of several young forwards this season and the chemistry of the Ryan Kesler-Andrew Cogliano-Jakob Silfverberg line has taken a dent out of his playing time, however. Perry didn’t step on the ice in overtime Friday against the Arizona Coyotes, something that has happened on at least two other occasions this season.
Perry’s decline has coincided with a slighter dip in production from longtime linemate Ryan Getzlaf, who has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Getzlaf, who could rejoin the Ducks for the morning skate on Tuesday, also scored in the last meeting with Dallas, but has just one goal since, giving him five on the season.
Getzlaf’s goal-scoring slide actually began last season, when the 31-year-old center finished with 13 goals in 77 games after scoring 25 in 2014-15 and 31 in 2013-14 while also playing 77 games in each of those seasons.
Dallas, which ended a season-worst three-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory at the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night, could still be without one of their top offensive players. Left wing Jamie Benn has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but remains a possibility against Anaheim, according to the Dallas Morning News.
One Dallas player who should be particularly happy to see the Ducks and goaltender John Gibson is veteran defenseman Dan Hamhuis, who scored his only goal this season in the Dec. 13 win against Anaheim. He tied the score at 2-2 before Adam Cracknell and Patrick Eaves followed with goals to chase Gibson from the game.
It was Hamhuis’s first goal since April 1, when he played for the Vancouver Canucks, a goal that also came against Anaheim with Gibson in net.
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