LOS ANGELES – Coyotes winger Brendan Perlini motions for the pass, raising his stick before planting it on the ice.
The puck arrives, and he accepts it with what those in hockey call a “soft catch” – a touch that controls the puck but doesn’t stop its motion, setting it up to be flung off the blade.
And when he lets go, Perlini’s right leg kicks up as the puck flies to the left of Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard, who was sliding over to his right to defend the shot only to have the puck land where he was just a second before.