Ducks Need More from Corey Perry to Survive Predators

There are a lot of ways to describe the Anaheim Ducks' 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals that tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Season-saving. Resilient.

Hilarious, in that it featured Ryan Johansen getting obliterated in his final four offensive-zone face-off attempts in the closing minutes with the Predators pushing for a tying goal.

It could also be concerning, as Corey Perry has been a non-entity through two games and the biggest reason the Ducks won Game 2 was Pekka Rinne spitting up all over himself. And even with Rinne ducking out of the way of one bad-angle shot Nick Ritchie fired and positioning himself way off his angle on a similarly harmless shot by Sami Vatanen, the Ducks were only able to squeak out a win by one non-empty-net goal.

Perry has just two goals in 13 playoff games after slipping to 19 goals in 82 games in the regular season, and coach Randy Carlyle moved him into a bottom-six role Sunday. Perry played 14:25, his lowest total of the postseason since Game 4 of the first round against Calgary and Game 1 of the second round against Edmonton. He wasn't really necessary in the four-game sweep of the Flames and his one productive game against the Oilers—one goal, two assists—was the difference in a Game 5 overtime win.

Yes, that overtime winner was an accidental ricochet off Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot, but it still counts.

But can the Ducks, playing their most formidable opponent of the postseason, get past the Predators with the mostly invisible Perry?

In the words of Daniel Alfredsson, probably not. The Ducks got two somewhat soft goals on a .951 goaltender and barely scraped by in Game 2 because the Predators are a scoring machine. Heck, even Ondrej Kase scored a goal and it was a nail-biting win. If Perry isn't scoring goals and finds himself on the third or fourth line, the Ducks are probably screwed when it comes to winning three of the final five games of this series.

Certain players bring value if they're not scoring, but Perry is pretty much offense or nothing. He doesn't kill penalties, win faceoffs or block shots and, when it comes to jamming a stick into someone else's nuts, the Ducks already have Ryan Kesler doing that and winning faceoffs, so at least he's doing something while getting run over at even strength.

When Jonathan Toews wasn't scoring in 2013, the Blackhawks survived until he broke through in the Cup Final against the Bruins. When Rick Nash wasn't scoring in 2014, the Rangers found a way to win without his offense until the Kings dispatched them in five incredibly tight games without a single goal from Nash.

The Ducks are at that stage where they can't get by without Perry for an entire round. If he doesn't find a way to score on the third line or the top line with Ryan Getzlaf, Perry will be delivering a shot to the testicles of the Ducks' championship hopes.