Edmonton Oilers' Perry gave cheekiest answer on Miller conversation
Edmonton Oilers’ veteran Corey Perry was in vintage form during a 6-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
The 39-year-old may not have shown up on the scoresheet, but his fingerprints were all over the game. Perry managed to live up to his nickname of “The Worm” as he found a way to get under the skin of just about every Canucks player.
It started with Perry going after Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes in a scrum and it quickly escalated as the game went on. At every point, however, it seemed like each play wound up in favour of Perry and the Oilers.
He baited Teddy Blueger into a roughing penalty to negate a Canucks power play, found a way to get Mark Friedman a 10-minute misconduct, and even had a lengthy conversation with J.T. Miller at the end of the second period.
The exact contents of that interaction with Miller aren’t quite known, but Perry gave a cheeky answer when asked about it after the game.
“I just asked him what he had for dinner and how everything was going,” Perry said with a sly smile. “That was it.”
"We were dialled in right from the start. It was all business for us. Two points were at stake, coming out & getting those early goals really set the table for the rest of the game."
Corey Perry on the #Oilers strong start vs. Vancouver. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/lgZuGvqiiz
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 24, 2025
If that is indeed what Perry was asking Miller, then the two were engaged in what must have been the most aggressive small talk ever to be caught on camera. It’s safe to say that the wily pest was not telling the whole truth with this one.
The actual conversation probably contained a few expletives that Perry wasn’t about to say in front of a camera.
J.T. Miller and Corey Perry stay out on the ice after the second period is over to have some words 😳 pic.twitter.com/P9LBr0P1Cy
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 24, 2025
Perry’s actions did not go unnoticed by his Oilers teammates. Leon Draisaitl, who had a goal and three points in the victory, praised the veteran’s ability to manage the game and his emotions.
“He’s probably the best in the league at [managing the game],” Draisaitl told reporters. “He knows when to do what at the right times and he does it better than anybody out there.”
One of the key moments for the Oilers was his aforementioned play to bait Blueger into dropping the gloves and taking a penalty. If that wasn’t done, the Canucks would have gone on a PP with a chance to make it a 5-3 game with plenty of time left in the game.
Following the game, Perry was asked why he didn’t accept the fight.
“There is a time and place and I just felt like the time and the place was not right now,” he said. “They had 12 guys coming after me on one shift there, I felt like, but it’s part of the game and it is what it is.”
The beauty of Corey Perry pic.twitter.com/EtAQJj32rz
— David Staples (@dstaples) January 24, 2025
For Canucks fans, the sneaky nastiness of Perry was probably as infuriating as ever, but for Oilers fans, it was a beautiful sight.
Unfortunately, the Canucks and Oilers do not have any more regular season matchups left on the schedule, but if a playoff rematch is in the cards, you can bet that there will be fireworks.