I hope LaCombe plays again, he's been a real pleasure to watch. I noticed him finishing a few checks and shoving people away from Alexander after the whistle.
LaCombe has done a lot of work on his defensive game as a converted OFD. He's got a low key physical game to him and does clear players out from the crease when he's on the PK in college. He's got great anticipation with intercepting passes (he's the reason the puck popped open for that Pitre breakaway shortie) and blocking shots (we've witnessed that in his 2 NHL games and rookie tourney).
Without Zell and Minty in game 2, LaCombe carried the puck into the offensive end a bit more and pinched down too. When he does carry the puck into the OZone, he doesn't just dump it behind the net, but will pass it off to a teammate or hold the puck longer while skating around to find a teammate to pass the puck. LaCombe doesn't panic with the puck on his stick in the defensive and offensive end; I really liked his board play in the OZ playing keep away until he found a path to get the puck to Carlsson and then attacked the net with Carlsson finding him from Carlsson behind the net.
On a tangent, with Vaaks returning from IR, the Ducks now have 7 defensemen on NHL contracts and that doesn't include LaCombe.
LD: Fowler, Vaaks, Hagg, White
RD: Drysdale (still unsigned), Gudas, Lyubushkin
Will the Ducks carry 8D or can LaCombe beat out White, Vaaks, or Hagg? The extra benefit of having LaCombe in the lineup is he can play RD effortlessly if need be b/c he's been playing RD as a left shooting D in college. Then again, he's also waiver
eligible exempt and the other 7 are not.
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