Davis Drewiske is congratulated by Ryan Smyth, left, and Trevor Lewis after scoring his first NHL goal last month. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images) |
E-mail
Print
For someone who views plus/minus ratings with what he says "a grain of salt," Kings defenseman Davis Drewiske maintains he also doesn't think much of his own mark.
He held a team-leading plus-10 rating that also tied for third in the NHL with Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly through Monday's games. Yet, Drewiske says the rating is "more of an indication our team is playing well."
The Kings and Drewiske agreed last month to a three-year contract extension worth $600,000 annually, and Kings Coach Terry Murray says the defenseman has "got a nice upside to his game." Murray also likes Drewiske's size (he's listed at 6-foot-2 and 222 pounds), movement off the puck, decision-making and effort.
"You know what type of plays he's going to make," said defenseman Matt Greene, who often pairs with Drewiske. "Nothing is going to be too risky. It's always going to be a safe play. That's good. It's easy for a partner when you know what your partner is going to do 85, 90% of the time."
Drewiske says he tries to be consistent. "You always want to protect the middle of the ice. Sometimes there's not much you can do. But if you play the odds and have good positioning, it can work out more often than not in your favor," he said.
Injury update
Winger Alexander Frolov missed Tuesday's practice because of sore hip flexor he suffered in the Kings' 5-3 victory over Phoenix on Monday, Murray said.
Murray expects Frolov to return to practice Wednesday, but it's unclear where he will play. Murray said he plans to keep the third line featuring Scott Parse, Jarret Stoll and Dustin Brown intact.
"It generated a couple of scoring opportunities with smart plays," Murray said. "It'll be great if we can get three lines with some production on it on a pretty consistent basis."
Same approach
After playing on the top line for five games with Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth, right winger Wayne Simmonds says the experience exceeded his expectations.
"Some of the stuff that those guys can do with the puck, they work wonders," Simmonds said. "Sometimes you don't notice it from the bench. Sometimes the puck just ends up in your stick and you're not even looking for it."
Justin Williams returned Monday after an injury sidelined him for five games.
On Monday against Phoenix, Williams tied the game at 3-3 at 4:44 in the third period. Kopitar, Smyth and Williams have 40 points through 10 games playing together. "I'm very happy to see the chemistry was there right away," Murray said.
Slap shots
Murray routinely says he doesn't view high-caliber matchups as "benchmark games." But with the Kings playing host to Pittsburgh, last season's Stanley Cup champions, on Thursday, it's critical to follow that even-keel approach, he said.
"If you put the emphasis on that you have to play great here tonight, inevitably it goes the other way," Murray said. "Just play well. If you play well, you play consistent and fundamentally sound, good things will happen."
mark.medina@latimes.com
twitter.com/latimesmedina
He held a team-leading plus-10 rating that also tied for third in the NHL with Washington's Alex Ovechkin, Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly through Monday's games. Yet, Drewiske says the rating is "more of an indication our team is playing well."
The Kings and Drewiske agreed last month to a three-year contract extension worth $600,000 annually, and Kings Coach Terry Murray says the defenseman has "got a nice upside to his game." Murray also likes Drewiske's size (he's listed at 6-foot-2 and 222 pounds), movement off the puck, decision-making and effort.
"You know what type of plays he's going to make," said defenseman Matt Greene, who often pairs with Drewiske. "Nothing is going to be too risky. It's always going to be a safe play. That's good. It's easy for a partner when you know what your partner is going to do 85, 90% of the time."
Drewiske says he tries to be consistent. "You always want to protect the middle of the ice. Sometimes there's not much you can do. But if you play the odds and have good positioning, it can work out more often than not in your favor," he said.
Injury update
Winger Alexander Frolov missed Tuesday's practice because of sore hip flexor he suffered in the Kings' 5-3 victory over Phoenix on Monday, Murray said.
Murray expects Frolov to return to practice Wednesday, but it's unclear where he will play. Murray said he plans to keep the third line featuring Scott Parse, Jarret Stoll and Dustin Brown intact.
"It generated a couple of scoring opportunities with smart plays," Murray said. "It'll be great if we can get three lines with some production on it on a pretty consistent basis."
Same approach
After playing on the top line for five games with Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth, right winger Wayne Simmonds says the experience exceeded his expectations.
"Some of the stuff that those guys can do with the puck, they work wonders," Simmonds said. "Sometimes you don't notice it from the bench. Sometimes the puck just ends up in your stick and you're not even looking for it."
Justin Williams returned Monday after an injury sidelined him for five games.
On Monday against Phoenix, Williams tied the game at 3-3 at 4:44 in the third period. Kopitar, Smyth and Williams have 40 points through 10 games playing together. "I'm very happy to see the chemistry was there right away," Murray said.
Slap shots
Murray routinely says he doesn't view high-caliber matchups as "benchmark games." But with the Kings playing host to Pittsburgh, last season's Stanley Cup champions, on Thursday, it's critical to follow that even-keel approach, he said.
"If you put the emphasis on that you have to play great here tonight, inevitably it goes the other way," Murray said. "Just play well. If you play well, you play consistent and fundamentally sound, good things will happen."
mark.medina@latimes.com
twitter.com/latimesmedina
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Save more than