Corey Perry powers Anaheim Ducks past Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime -NHL Update
Corey Perry was the guiding light for Anaheim as he powered the Ducks past the Carolina Hurricanes with his game-winner in the overtime extension to take the contest, 3-2, Wednesday night, February 8, 2012, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Over regulation has been working well for Anaheim as the Ducks have won two straight games now, the previous being against Calgary Flames in a shootout and now in overtime.
"It's a tell-tale sign of a team that won't quit, and a tell-tale sign of a team that wants to win," said Anaheim Ducks head coach, Bruce Boudreau.
Tuomo Ruutu put Carolina ahead with his 17th goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period.
Nick Bonino levelled the contest at the 12:48 mark of the second period as he redirected Lubomir Visnovsky’s slap shot from the centre and through Carolina Hurricanes goalie, Cam Ward, who managed to block 31 of 34 shots.
Eric Staal countered back with his 13th of the NHL year in the opening minutes of the third period but luckily for Anaheim, Saku Koivu was right there to answer at the 5:11 mark with a one-timer, forcing another live in the overtime extension.
Corey Perry got lucky in the overtime five minutes as he capitalised on a free rebound after Sheldon Brookbank failed on his slap shot, giving Anaheim the much needed victory.
"It's just unfortunate there in overtime to have a call like that go against us and end up costing us another point," Carolina captain, Eric Staal, said. "Our compete level was there, we were on pucks, we were aggressive, we were attacking. Wardo was good
when he needed to be."
Anaheim are hoping to continue winning as the kick off their eight-game road trip against the top NHL team, Detroit Red Wings, on Friday, while Carolina has the next against Colorado Avalanche on the same day.
Both teams are some of the lowest ranked throughout the league and will be needing to work their way up in the upcoming days if they have any hopes of reaching the playoffs this time around.
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