Some players just don’t look right in a certain uniform, but for longtime Kings rival-turned-summer acquisition Corey Perry, black and silver seem to suit his style perfectly.
He and his new teammates will don their sweaters against a beast from the East on Saturday when they confront the New Jersey Devils.
Perry was a Stanley Cup champion and Hart Trophy winner with the Ducks before completing a run of five additional Stanley Cup Final series, all losses, in the past six seasons. Included among them were the last two with the Edmonton Oilers, who dispatched the Kings summarily en route to their defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers.
When Perry was signed, more than a few Kings fans felt like they needed a shower. But with five goals in his past five games, it’s been Perry getting showered, with praise instead of boos this time around.
“I told everyone this was going to happen,” Drew Doughty told reporters. “He’s a great player and a great pro.”
At 40, Perry is one of just three active players from the 2003 draft and the only remaining forward. While Doughty has long had familiarity with him as an on-ice foe and off-ice friend – the Canadians also won two Olympic gold medals together – some of the younger Kings are getting a longer look at the man known as “The Worm.”
“He’s won a Cup. He’s done a lot of things in his career. He’s always talking and staying engaged in the game. He always goes to the net, that’s where all his goals come from,” said Quinton Byfield, who like Doughty extolled Perry’s value as an exemplar in the trenches.
The comments of his teammates sounded highfalutin compared to Perry’s own assessment of his hot start with the Kings, one that was delayed by preseason knee surgery.
“I just play my style of hockey, it’s just who I am,” Perry said.
Perry’s arrival has coincided with an upswing for the Kings, who plodded through the first bit of the season and have yet to find any consistent element to hang their hat upon. Six of the seven games during their points streak have come with Perry in the lineup, and on Thursday he singlehandedly kept the streak alive.
Trailing 3-1 to the Atlantic-leading Detroit Red Wings, Perry scored goals with 2:13 left and 1:33 to play, forcing overtime. The Kings (5-3-4, 14 points) have had sticky fingers when it comes to stealing points this season, with similar rallies against Vegas, Minnesota and Carolina as well. They’ve snagged a point from bonus-session hockey four times but only won three games and two in regulation.
“Yeah, we’re getting points, but we’re still trying to find our game,” Perry said. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near where we can be and how we can play.”
Next up, they’ll face the Devils (8-3-0, 16 points), who pieced together the longest winning streak of the young campaign at eight but have dropped their past two decisions. Jack Hughes masterminds a formidable group of forwards while Jake Allen has been the main man in net in 2025-26.
New Jersey at Kings
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: FDSN West, KCAL (Ch. 9)