Game 5: Vancouver Casucks 3 @ Los Angeles Kings 4 F/SO 10/22/16

[bob77]

Forbert is much less tentative this year than last year. Sutter is controlling his minutes very tightly but I expect that to change as the season progresses and he adjusts to the speed of the NHL.

I am not happy that DS continues to run his top players into the ground with the 3 on 3. Did he not learn anything from last year?

He's not killing penalties yet, and he's not bad at that. We will see

 

[Basilisk]

Dowd is looking more and more poised with each game. Love what he brings.

Dowd is reminding me of a strange hybrid of Stumpel & Stoll......

 

[AlphaBravo]

Dowd is clutch. It may be too early to say now, but I think he is perfect for the 3C role. The thing that strikes me about Dowd is his ability to keep control of the puck and enter the offensive zone with possession. Also, complementing him with Brown and Andreoff makes sense, considering they are both capable of scoring garbage goals by getting the rebounds left by Dowd's shot or a pass by Dowd. If Brown defers to Dowd to do the zone entry, it will also force Brown to play like he used to--parked in front of the net and getting those garbage goals.

Also, Dowd's play shows just how bad Shore is. I know there are still fans who think he needs more time to develop, but I think we have seen pretty close to all he has to offer. Dowd has way less experience and is noticeable on nearly all of his shifts. Shore, on the other hand, is vanilla. The best game we can expect from him is to go unnoticed for making reckless plays, which makes him good enough for the 4th line at best.

 

[HookKing]

Hopefully Forbort continues to progress, it's looking like some of the poor play in the first couple games were just nerves.

As far as OT, the Kings went 12-3 in OT last year, which is probably what he remembers. Yea, it's extra wear and tear, but they aren't exactly tough minutes. A lot of slow skating and pretty much zero hitting.

Those minutes are brutal, the players can barely get off the ice and change. Not to mention Sutter is only playing a handful of guys so they are out there every other shift.

 

[Butch 19]

Those minutes are brutal, the players can barely get off the ice and change. Not to mention Sutter is only playing a handful of guys so they are out there every other shift.

agree 100%. OT minutes are brutal.

I thought the "... they aren't exactly tough minutes. A lot of slow skating..... " was from the Onion.

 

[BigKing]

Dowd is clutch. It may be too early to say now, but I think he is perfect for the 3C role. The thing that strikes me about Dowd is his ability to keep control of the puck and enter the offensive zone with possession. Also, complementing him with Brown and Andreoff makes sense, considering they are both capable of scoring garbage goals by getting the rebounds left by Dowd's shot or a pass by Dowd. If Brown defers to Dowd to do the zone entry, it will also force Brown to play like he used to--parked in front of the net and getting those garbage goals.

Also, Dowd's play shows just how bad Shore is. I know there are still fans who think he needs more time to develop, but I think we have seen pretty close to all he has to offer. Dowd has way less experience and is noticeable on nearly all of his shifts. Shore, on the other hand, is vanilla. The best game we can expect from him is to go unnoticed for making reckless plays, which makes him good enough for the 4th line at best.

I'm definitely not the first one to bang the drum for Dowd since it was the Calder Cup run in '15 that led me to be high on him, but I'm pretty sure he has more experience than Shore in professional hockey, albeit not at the NHL level. I'll let someone look it up and prove me wrong, but I think that is the case.

Agree on Dowd being needed. I felt he should of played last year down the stretch and into the playoffs as he brought skill and a bit of an edge to the 4th line. Team became kind of stale but there was Dowd giving the other team's goalie a snow shower and then drawing the ire of Big Buff etc. Exactly the kind of injection of energy most of us here have been pining for except he isn't "youth" or "energy" just for the sake of it: he can actually play.

It helps that he is so old at this point and was allowed time to become "the guy" or at least one of them down in the AHL. I just hope he isn't banished when one of those no-look, behind the legs from the boards passes gets picked off again like he was last year.

With Vinny not being able to skate back on defense too much, I think the Kings may be able to not lose much going from Vinny to Dowd as far as production goes on the 3rd line: especially with Dowd mixing in on the 2nd PP unit.

 

[funky]

Love Downs play so far. Creative and elusive on entry. Fresh set of legs, has some speed. Hopefully he keeps getting better and answers 3 C

 

[Trolfoli]

Okay.... Brown. He had like 3 points and a shorty. Does anyone else think he might be turning his game around?

Points aside, I really liked how Brown looked with regards to passing the puck in the offensive zone. His passing has been terrible for a while, couple seasons. Really hoping just playing with Dowd with zero pressure allows him to go out and play hockey again. Hope he can keep this up.