Canadiens Will Need To Find A Way To Ignore Corey Perry

As the start of the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning approaches, the Habs coaching staff has plenty of strategizing left to do and wisdom to impart on their players. Part of that strategy should be warning their young player about Corey Perry.

The former Anaheim Ducks first-round pick at the 2003 draft may not score like he once did; he put up 98 points in the most productive season of his career, but he’s still as much of a pest as he always was. In his 1463 NHL games, the veteran has racked up 1566 penalty minutes and has made it a habit to get in people’s faces. Furthermore, he’s got a wealth of experience in the playoffs, which makes him an even more formidable foe.

While the one-time Hab (one season in 2020-21) has only won a Stanley Cup in his first NHL season, he has come very close to winning another one in the last few years, making an appearance in five of the last six Cup finals; twice with the Edmonton Oilers, once with the Bolts, once with the Canadiens and once with the Dallas Stars.

After 237 playoff games, the veteran knows all the tricks of the trade and is the kind of player who makes the most of the fact that the referees are somewhat more permissive in the playoffs, which is what makes him so dangerous.

With the extra leeway, he’s got plenty of opportunities to get in players’ faces and haggle with them; a push here, a slash there, that’s just another day at the office for Perry. In the last game between the two teams on April 9, he did just that and baited Arber Xhekaj into taking a roughing penalty. Something coach Martin St-Louis did notice: telling the media that Perry has been setting traps for 40 years, and Xhekaj fell for it. A cautionary tale if there ever was one. The Canadiens will need to take a page out of Lane Hutson's book, who just ignored Perry when he came knocking. 

While the Lightning haven’t had the best power play this season, they are in 16th place with a 21% success rate. You do not want to give them any opportunities. The Bolts are the kind of team that will “make you pay cash”, as the coach so often said last season, when you shoot yourself in the foot. There’s a reason why Tampa Bay went out and got Perry from the Los Angeles Kings, and it’s because they know he can be a difference maker in the playoffs.

Corey Perry was telling Lane Hutson to get off the ice while both teams were in a big scrum, Hutson wasn't listening and Perry wasn't happy ???????? pic.twitter.com/9NRv3hVXqz

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 10, 2026

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