Here's an example using a simple hash (instead of a hash-ref as you're dealing with). This solution declares the hash, and then assigns to it using a hash slice. It has limitations. For example, you have to know up front how many items you're capturing. But it works pretty well.

my $string = "This is that is other is";
my %hash;
if ( @hash{'a', 'b', 'c'} 
       = $string =~ m/(This).+(that).+(other).+/ ) {
    print "$_ = $hash{$_}\n" foreach keys %hash;
}
[download]

As for how to "do" a hash slice given a hash-ref, it's like this:

@{$x}{'a', 'b', 'c'} = ( list );
[download]

(...that is, if memory serves.)

UPDATE: I just realized, this is my 1000th post! Enjoy!