What we learned in NHL last week: Corey Perry’s omission from Canada’s World Cup roster is a bit of a mystery

What we learned from the past week of play in the NHL:

• It once was automatic for Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf and right wing Corey Perry to be chosen for Team Canada in a major tournament. Both played on the last two Olympic champion teams, but Perry wasn’t on the preliminary World Cup roster announced last week. Their early-season struggles likely worked against him, but like Getzlaf and the Ducks, Perry has made an emphatic turnaround. Getzlaf was surprised Perry was omitted.

“It’s one of those things that I wasn’t even sure I was going to be picked,” Getzlaf said. “We went into that day with a different outlook than normal, I think, when you’re talking about the talent coming and the fact they’re naming only 16 players. I have no doubt that Pears will end up on the team, and I’m sure it’s going to fuel him the rest of the way. It’s going to be good for us.”

It has been: Perry had four points in his first three games after being left off the roster.

• Brooks Laich went through some tough times during parts of 12 seasons with the Washington Capitals, and he was disappointed to be traded just as the team has become a Stanley Cup contender. But he accepted the move to the Toronto Maple Leafs with class and last week earned a small footnote in history.

Laich assisted on the final NHL goal scored by Michael Nylander on April 5, 2009, and last Saturday assisted on the first NHL goal scored by Nylander’s son, William.

“I played with his dad. Maybe that makes me his uncle,” Laich told the Toronto Star. “He can call me Uncle Brooks.”

•An 8-0-4 points streak has helped the Nashville Predators get a solid grip on the first West wild-card spot. One key: Winning on the road, where they have a 9-0-2 streak. Center Mike Fisher reached a milestone last week when he played in his 1,000th NHL game.

•Who knew: the Edmonton Oilers have shown they can play defense. In their last seven games they’ve allowed more than two goals only once, a revelation for a team that has a minus-34 goal differential. Goalie Cam Talbot has stopped 207 of 214 shots over his last six starts, a .967 save percentage.