The Lightning forward was booed almost every time he touched the puck by the fans at Scotiabank Arena who pegged him Public Enemy No. 1 in this series. And judging by the wry, at times almost sinister, smile he's flashed when soaking in those jeers, he's loving every minute of it.
"Sure he is," said Mark Hunter, the general manager of London in the Ontario Hockey League. "This is Corey's time of year. This is when the games matter. This is when he elevates his game."
Hunter saw first hand how Perry would do anything to win during his junior days with London from 2001-05. Knights coach Dale Hunter, Mark's brother, exhibited similar feistiness during his 19-season NHL career from 1980-99 with the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche.
"Whatever it takes," Mark Hunter said. "They both subscribe to that."
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Perry certainly has shown that in this best-of-7 series, which is tied 1-1 heading to Tampa for Game 3 on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUNX). Sure, he's lost a step or three from the prime of his career, but that hasn't stopped the 37-year-old from creating chaos, which he does best.
Consider his track record in the series thus far.
Prior to each game he's been the last player on the ice in warmups, so much so that on each occasion the arena house lights have dimmed. Playing to the moment, Perry then cranked up the crowd's anger by mockingly waving his arms at them as he headed to the dressing room.
Entering Game 3 he leads or is tied for the Lightning lead in goals (two), assists (two), points (four) and shots on goal (10). He also has seven penalty minutes and drawn four penalties, an NHL high entering play Friday. His ability to goad the Maple Leafs into taking penalties was on display in the first period of Toronto's 7-2 victory Thursday when an exchange of chirps between Perry and Jake McCabe caused the Toronto defenseman to smack him in the face, earning himself a roughing minor.
It's what Corey Perry does. It's who Corey Perry is. And it's why Corey Perry is, for the most part, effective at this time of year.
"He's been in this league for a long time," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "So in saying that, is Corey Perry on this team because he's a big part of this team? Yes. But he's here to play at this time of the year. Playoff time.
"Whether he gets 10 minutes of ice time, Corey has an impact on our team, and in such a positive way. And it's not just the 10, 12, 14 minutes he plays in the game. It's also when he's sitting on the bench or when he's in the locker room.
"He doesn't give himself enough credit about the impact he has."
Cooper dismissed Perry's modest offensive output of 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) during the regular season. He also cited Perry's plus/minus total of minus-28 as misleading, claiming a chunk of the goals against he was on for came with Tampa Bay's goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
Either way, Cooper didn't panic about Perry's struggles during the regular season. And neither did Perry. This, he said, is the time that matters.
Playoff time.
"We've known for a while this was the matchup we were going to have," Perry said of facing the Maple Leafs. "We had a tough March, sure. But it's about playoffs. And that's what we're thinking. We're just trying to get our game into shape.
"We know what we have to do, how we have to play as a team."
Nobody more than Perry, who has 123 points (53 goals, 70 assists) in 192 Stanley Cup Playoff games and helped the Anaheim Ducks win their first Cup in 2007.
"One of my favorite players ever," Mark Hunter said. "When you have someone like that who'll do whatever it takes, it's special.
"And he is that."
