{"id":260398,"date":"2025-10-30T08:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/260398\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T08:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:15:13","slug":"corey-perrys-ability-to-find-a-way-has-helped-the-kings-to-do-the-same-giving-drew-doughty-his-i-told-you-so-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/260398\/","title":{"rendered":"Corey Perry’s ability to “find a way” has helped the Kings to do the same, giving Drew Doughty his “I told you so” moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

After last night\u2019s game, Drew Doughty gave us the \u201cI told you so\u201d about Corey Perry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told everyone this was going to happen,\u201d Doughty said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great player, great pro. My goal was solely because of him standing front of the net and we don\u2019t have enough guys that do that, to be honest with you, he\u2019s one of our only ones. It\u2019s something our other guys should learn from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot to dissect there but let\u2019s start with what\u2019s easy. Perry was a huge factor in last night\u2019s win. <\/p>\n

The praise came after his most impactful game on the scoresheet as a King. In the first period of a 0-0 slog, Perry did what he always does. He went to the blue paint, found a loose puck and got it across the goal line. Such a Corey Perry goal and he earned it. The Kings needed it. <\/p>\n

In the second period, Perry made a nifty play off the wall to spring a 2-on-1 the other way, with Jeff Malott keeping the puck himself for a good goal in transition, with Perry tallying the primary assist. Just a couple minutes later, Perry created another goal without touching the puck, as Doughty alluded to. He positioned himself right in front of San Jose goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, limiting his vision, which allowed Doughty to score top shelf for his first goal of the season and put the visitors ahead 3-0.<\/p>\n

Three Kings goals early and Perry played a hand in all three, whether he got the points or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just incredible,\u201d Head Coach Jim Hiller said of Perry\u2019s play. \u201cSome guys, the puck just ends up on their stick. He\u2019s at the front of the net, so he gives himself every opportunity, but he still finds pucks and he still finds ways to put them in. You wish you could teach it, you wish other players could learn from it, some guys just have a special, special ability, and he\u2019s one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

His early impact is obviously not a surprise to Doughty. But there\u2019s still some magic to it, isn\u2019t there? <\/p>\n

At 40-years-old, Perry joined the Kings this summer on a one-year contract, a player targeted by new General Manager Ken Holland to deliver in areas he felt the Kings were short on come the postseason. Perry\u2019s track record of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final speaks for itself. Perry was brought in to impact games in April but it turns out the Kings needed him much sooner than that. <\/p>\n

Off to a 1-3-2 start while he was sidelined with an early-season knee injury, Perry returned for the first of five straight on the road last week in St. Louis. Four wins and nine points later, from a possible five and ten, the Kings have flipped the script on their slow start from a record perspective, moving into a playoff position in the Pacific Division. When the wheels touched down in Los Angeles, the Kings were tied for second in the Pacific Division, two points out of the division lead in the early stages of the season. <\/p>\n

Perry certainly helped to play a part in the turnaround. <\/p>\n

Corey Perry scores against the San Jose Sharks (obviously) for the Los Angeles Kings (still new to us). pic.twitter.com\/xT8WP5K9fo<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 LA Kings (@LAKings) October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the other part of what Doughty said and that\u2019s been Perry\u2019s impact beyond just the scoresheet. <\/p>\n

Perhaps put a bit more bluntly than what others have said, but there\u2019s a learning element to what Perry provides. After he was activated from injured reserve, Perry spoke about how when he came into the NHL back in 2005, he learned from players like Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer in Anaheim Three Hall of Famers, as Perry could be as well in the future. He learned how to go to the net by battling with Pronger, one of the hardest defensemen in NHL history to play against. Even in practice, Pronger made life difficult on Perry. He learned quickly where goals are scored in this league and that\u2019s by getting to the blue paint.<\/p>\n

So far, Perry has three goals in five games with the Kings. Those three goals feel like they\u2019ve come from a combined three feet away from the goal line. All three are classified as \u201chigh-danger chances\u201d by the NHL, coming from right inside the house. It\u2019s what Doughty is talking about with Perry, how he gets to the net and how he wants to see more in that area from the Kings. It\u2019s something that not every player is either able to do or willing to do, certainly not at Perry\u2019s level. It\u2019s easy to say it but it\u2019s hard to do it as effectively as Perry has for so many years. There\u2019s a reason he\u2019s one of the best to ever do it from that area of the ice. But he\u2019s a willing mentor and hopefully, there are willing learners to match that. <\/p>\n

Anze Kopitar was inclined to feel the same way. Kopitar and Doughty themselves are players who others try to learn from. But they know what Perry has been through as well, from another perspective, specializing in different areas of the game. Koptiar sees the value in having Perry with the Kings and has been impressed with his early impact, both on the ice and in the room with younger players.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some good battles over the years,\u201d Kopitar said of Perry. \u201cJust his veteran presence, professionalism, when you look at how he prepares for practice, prepares for games, it\u2019s really good to have a guy around like that, especially for the young guys to maybe learn a thing or two. He\u2019s been hitting the scoresheet too, so that\u2019s very nice to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the battles against him over the years that make players like Kopitar appreciate having Perry as a teammate now. <\/p>\n

Hiller hasn\u2019t been in the trenches against Perry as a player but he\u2019s certainly game-planned for him as a coach. It\u2019s always been about the little things with Perry. While he often gets talked about for things that happen outside of the whistles, Perry thrives in the dirtiest of areas during the flow of the game. That stands out, as it did last night in San Jose. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are some of the things, I guess, as a coach, you really just get to appreciate,\u201d Hiller added. \u201cYou bring a guy like Corey in and you\u2019ve battled against him for years, never enjoyed coaching against him and you get him on your side and he just keeps going. He just finds a way. It\u2019s really incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

He just finds a way. <\/p>\n

Kind of a good representation of last night\u2019s team performance. The Kings played, in Doughty\u2019s words, their worst game of the season. A three-goal lead blown, several avoidable penalties including two in the offensive zone, one in the neutral zone and a delay-of-game minor. It was a night when the Kings didn\u2019t have their legs, compounded by lots of wrong decisions in the wrong moments of the game. And yet, when the dust settled, they left San Jose with a 4-3 victory and a 4-0-1 roadtrip, one point shy of the maximum they could have earned. <\/p>\n

Perry certainly played his part there, both in last night\u2019s win and the overall results of the trip. He\u2019s a point-per-game player early in the season, with five (3-2-5) from five games played and the Kings have needed all of them. His first goal got the Kings on the board after a slow start in Dallas, a game that eventually turned into a big overtime win. He scored again in Nashville as the Kings earned a point. Then the two points last night. You wonder where they might be without those goals and those assists. Or maybe it\u2019s friendlier not to wonder, and you don\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

Look, there\u2019s always going to be a shred of uneasiness when it comes to at least a segment of Kings fans rooting for a player they\u2019ve loved to hate over the years. I mean, he got booed in his own building on Opening Night. I\u2019ll tell you what, though. I don\u2019t think that going to happen on Thursday when he plays his first game with the club at Crypto.com Arena. It shouldn\u2019t. Because, for all that has happened over the years, in the here and now, Perry has something going and that something is helping to drive the Kings to victories, especially on nights when they\u2019ve been outplayed. In order to find success, the Kings can\u2019t just count on Perry turning back the clock, but they\u2019ll most certainly take as much as he\u2019s got to give right now. Not much more you could ask from a guy who just continues to find a way to get the job done. <\/p>\n

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Photo by Matthew Huang\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n