Matt Greene had a happy return for the Kings on Saturday in Colorado, as he played more than 21 minutes and had a plus-2 rating in the Kings’ win. As he did in that game, Greene will start tonight in a pairing with Willie Mitchell. The second game back can sometimes be tough for a player who has been out for a while — Greene had shoulder surgery in July — but Terry Murray indicated after this morning’s skate that he might try to raise Greene’s ice time tonight. Greene averaged under 18 minutes per game last season, but with Drew Doughty out, the Kings are looking to get big minutes from Greene and Willie Mitchell, who is averaging close to 24 minutes this season.
MURRAY: “That’s one of those scenarios [Saturday] where you’ve been out and you’re anxious to get going. You’re excited about playing and you come back and you pour everything into the game. I thought it was a very emotional game for him. He was very excited in the locker room and he played real heavy, with a lot of physical play and did a tremendous job. I think it was good for him to have the day off yesterday. You come back after that kind of an effort, and the next morning you’re drained physically, and maybe even a little bit emotionally. So it was good for him just to back off and recover.”
Without DD our defense is a lot less physical. Hopefully MG can fill that void like he always has!
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greene is def my favorite defensmen. he is reliable and physical. doesnt have breakdowns like johnson does (ten times per game)… i would think that TM would spread out the reliability a little bit. maybe get him out there with whiskey or muzzin. thoughts?
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Stats1 Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
@jpuck, Muzzin is in Manchester.
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Stuart Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
@Stats1, He was already sent down??? That sucks. I liked what little I saw of his game. I’m sure he’ll be back.
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gralx Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
@Stuart, Just recalled him like 30 seconds ago lol
Stuart Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
@gralx, (in Vinny Barbarino’s voice) I’M SO CONFUSED!!! So is he with the big club or not?
jpuck Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
@Stats1,
dang that really sucks. i really liked what i was seeing from him. why would they recall him when doughty goes down?
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puck73 Reply:
October 25th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
@jpuck, Personally, I love the way Peter Harold has played the last 2 games more then Drewiske or Muzzin at this point. The guy we have to keep an eye on of course is JJ, you never know which JJ is gonna show up? The one that played within himself and was solid on Saturday, or the guy that tried to emulate Doughty vs Phoenix and got torched.
Greener is the man.
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I like the defensive pairings, but they didn’t seem to do as well in the game against Colorado. I was wondering how they would play if the pairings were as follows
Mitchell-Johnson
Greene-Drewiske
Scuderi-Harrold
What do yall think?
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“heavy” First time all year that Coach Murray has used that term…Its officially Hockey season!!!!!
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There exists a certain myopia about player performances around here.
Jack Johnson doesn’t make any more errors than Doughty, Scuderi, or Mitchell.
Most critics just don’t want to see it.
For example: how does Milan Hejduk end up all alone in the slot on a Colorado Power Play??? Scuderi and Mitchell, not JJ.
Just one example…
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