Replacing defenseman Matt Greene in the Kings’ lineup tonight will be Davis Drewiske, who had been a healthy scratch in the previous three games — and four of the previous five — and really hasn’t played defense in a game since Nov. 29. The one game that Drewiske did appear in this month, he played right wing on the fourth line. Drewiske will pair with Alec Martinez tonight and play on the right side. Here’s what Terry Murray said today about Drewiske’s return to the lineup…
MURRAY: “He’s been out of the lineup for a few games now, and has had a lot of opportunity to get practice time in, and some review. Yesterday afternoon, after the practice, we sat down and went through some clips with him, his clips in the last three or four games that he played. He’s hungry to get back in. He’s looking forward to the opportunity to play now, and he will step right in and I’m sure he will do a good job for us.
A note, also, on the Kings’ defense. This will be the 26th time, in 29 games, that the Kings will not have their full defense intact at the start of a game. The only games in which the Kings have stated with a full complement of defensemen were Nov. 4 against Tampa Bay, Nov. 6 against Nashville and Monday against Detroit. The Kings won all three games.
I have full confidence that DD will do well. I trust the coaches and the players. This is a good team and slated to get only better.
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puck73 Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
@Kingsrule, Concur.
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Observations like that is why we love you Rich. Now when someone tells me that the kings suck I can say we are perfect when our D is healthy.
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FWIW. Just announced; Brayden Schenn is going to be on NHLXM & NHL Network @ 1:35PST today.
gKg!
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puck73 Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
@LBlocal, Brayden Schenn is going to be really good for the L.A Kings.
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I wonder why he is on the right.
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I think us Kings fans need to vote more for the all star game. Quick is playing some of the best hockey in the league and he isnt in the top 10 in goalies. Come on kings fans, start voting for our guys!!
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As a side note, in the 3 Wins, 2 were shutouts and the other we gave up 1 goal…so with a full D-cops, we average 0.33 GAA.
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puck73 Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
@MontreaKing, Mitchell also played in all 3 of those games as well.
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and two of those three games they won were shutouts
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Stop the Puck Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
@TRMRS,
combined score of 10-1, and 2 were against (at the time of the game) the top teams in the conference.
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DD2 played really well at the beginning of the season so we are lucky to have him as a replacement while Greene is out. He definitely is better than Greene in the offensive zone. That said, hurry back Greene and GKG!
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Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo are both out. The andy Murry injury curse is lingering.
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I think that stat just helps affirm the fact that we have one of the best d-men corps in the league. DD2 is no slouch either. I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he would be a solid starting 5/6 d-man on any team in the league, and we’re using him as a fill-in.
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Will Hutchison Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
@AZ King, DD@ would be the second best dman on Tampa.
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VanKingsFan Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
@Will Hutchison, False. Hedman is a beast. and Kubina and Ohlund are still very solid.
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Badger57 Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
@Will Hutchison,
Agree with that one!
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Never really saw DD2 have a bad game.
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Way to go Whiskey! Have a good game tonight.
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Get to it Big Man. Help make them sing the blues for real!
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Muzzin? hellllo? I must be the only one who remembers how great he played when we called him up…DD is fine, for now
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Drewiske had been playing great when Murray took him out of the lineup. We need to find room for Harrold too.
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Doughty99 Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
@THEROCKNROLL80S,
Just posted it on the other thread too, but:
is anyone else surprised it’s Wiskie over Harold with how well Harold and JMFJ looked together? Martinez and Wiskie is a little worrying to me.
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