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Corey Perry, in terms of production and importance to his team, should be a star in the NHL. Perhaps he would be if he wasn't so loathed by fans around the league. Perry added another "highlight" to his villainous résumé in Game 2 against the Stars on Friday night.
With the Ducks and Dallas Stars tied 0-0, Perry found himself tangled up with Dallas captain Jamie Benn. Perry found this to be a good opportunity to spear Benn below the belt.
Somehow Perry only ended up with a two-minute minor. He was lucky it was called slashing instead of spearing, which comes with a five-minute major. It's a pretty cheap play overall as the business end of the stick could do some damage if it found an area without padding.
Benn seemed no worse for the wear, but there's no room for stuff like that. That's the second "cup-check" style play of Friday night's playoff action as Milan Lucic gave Danny DeKeyser a stick below the belt in Game 1 between the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings.
Perry was involved in more excitement a little later in the period as well. After a net-front scramble, Perry got tangled up with Stars defenseman Trevor Daley. Somehow Daley ended up on the Ducks sniper and he decided not to get up without giving Perry a couple of shots while he laid on the ice. Perhaps there was some residual anger left over from the incident with Benn.
Daley ended up with a two-minute minor for roughing, while Perry went unpenalized. In that instance, Perry's agitating act worked rather well. Though I'm sure there were a few players around the league taking some enjoyment out of Daley's mugging of Perry there.
With all of the skill Perry has, it's easy to wonder why he feels the need to play the way he does. Whether you like him or not, there's no question he's pretty good at what he does both on the score sheet and under other players' skin. That still doesn't excuse what he tried to do with Benn, though.
