Scuderi’s contributions recognized

I mentioned it briefly following Game 3, though it bears repeating: Rob Scuderi contributed one of his typical playoff performances that Kings fans have come to expect from “The Piece.”

Though he finished with a game-high six blocked shots, it wasn’t simply his ability to deny pucks from getting through to Jonathan Quick that stood out in his strong defensive performance.

There were many layers of the insight with which he played on Saturday, and instead of attempting to articulate his effectiveness myself, I consulted with Dustin Brown.

Dustin Brown, on Rob Scuderi:
“He doesn’t make his money getting points or scoring goals, it’s preventing. Ever since we got him, it’s like he was kind of an unknown coming in here. He was a big part of the Penguins team when they won. You knew that, but you didn’t realize how good of a defender he was. It’s not the big, bruising type of defenseman maybe like Reg (Robyn Regehr) is. It’s more of stick and positional play, and sometimes that can be more frustrating, especially against those skill guys just because they can never seem to get a clean shot off.”

Brown, on Scuderi’s leadership:
“It’s all in the way he plays. He does all the right things at the right times. He sacrifices his body. It’s those types of things, and he’s never looking for any recognition. He just goes about his business, just kind of undercover…if you don’t notice him, he’s having a really good game.”

Brown, on Scuderi’s Game 3 performance:
“Yeah, I mean he’s a big part of our PK, and he had a lot of blocked shots. Maybe not blocked shots, but deterring shots. Again, that’s a lot of Scuds’ game, is position and making it hard for guys to get clean opportunities.”

Also – LAKings.com: Scuderi – “Ugly but Effective”