Thread: DD2 and Muzzin

Originally Posted by ILikeTheKings

It definitely helps them that the Kings have such a supported defensive system. It helps alot in cases like this to have such defensively responsible forwards.

Having Quick back there doesn't hurt either.

Pleasantly surprised as well and this is great news for Mitchell's recovery. It's bound to be a little more trickier on the road. I look forward to seeing how they'll do.

Drewiske has made his real contribution on the PK.

Originally Posted by KingFanMGM

I think Drewiske looks very solid playing defense. His positioning is solid and he is great a blocking shots and tying up opponenets.

The one area that I think needs improvement is his ability to recover pucks cleanly and make quicker decisions to pass the puck. He is great at preventing or stopping an opponent's scoring chance, but I find the puck often gets stuck in his skates and he hesitates a bit. He is just not as fluid in his footwork with the puck to his stick as some of his teammates. This often allows the opposing team to apply pressure on him a little longer and can possibly lead to additional opportunities for them on the forecheck.

Luckily, the more time he gets to play, this should clean up.

To be fair, the number of bad change-of-possession reads in the D-zone has been scary. Whether it's a defenceman or a wing, half of the time we gain possession and move the puck up the boards we fumble it, reverse it to nobody in particular, or send a 10-15 foot pass into a guy's skates while he's got a forward bearing down on him. When everybody's moving on change of possession we all seem to do pretty well and hit guys' sticks in stride with outlet passes. When everybody's standing around we all look awful and start passing it into guys' skates. That's Brown, Williams, King, Frazer, Richards, etc, etc, right along with Davis... and I actually think Drewiske has done much better than some of those other guys in moving the puck in the defensive zone.

Originally Posted by Byatch1979

I've been impressed with their solid play. Now if only Brown and Williams would realize that the lockout is over...

Brown is just getting used to the smaller ice surface and Williams is getting used to an ice surface.

This.

He's been SUPERB on the PK.

Originally Posted by fuzzerson

Brown is just getting used to the smaller ice surface and Williams is getting used to an ice surface.

rotfl

i thought dd2 played great last night. this may sound weird, but i felt like he was very confident out there, and he had a handful of blocks as well.

The only thing separating Drewiske from Scuderi is poise with the puck. Scuderi can slow the play down, find and make a good tape-to-tape outlet pass. Drewiske has more of a "just clear it" mentality. Davis has a stronger shot and takes more offensive chances, but he isn't as detailed with the puck and transition is big for a team without much forward speed or skill. He should be a full time bottom-pairing NHL blueliner, but he's on a loaded roster.