Since we're golfing,

$s = $1; $s =~ y|\x20-\x7e|.|c;
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can be replaced with

( $s = $1 ) =~ y|\x20-\x7e|.|c;
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It's one character shorter with spaces removed.

Or

$s = $1 =~ y|\x20-\x7e|.|cr;
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It's yet another character shorter with spaces removed.