Drew Doughty says LA Kings need to get swagger back

SAN JOSE >> Drew Doughty didn’t have a goal or an assist and had a minus-3 defensive rating in the first two games of the Kings’ first-round playoff series against the Sharks. Brayden McNabb, his defense partner, also was scoreless and had a minus-2 rating.

Jake Muzzin was the only Kings defenseman with a point going into Game 3 on Monday at the SAP Center. He had a goal in Game 1 and an assist in Game 2 and had an even rating after two games. Alec Martinez, Jamie McBain, Luke Sche and Rob Scuderi also had even ratings, but zero points.

Martinez played limited minutes in Game 1 before he was sidelined by an injury.

Doughty said Monday the Kings’ defensemen must have a greater impact in the series.

“We have to lea from our mistakes and play with that swagger we have,” he said.

The Kings’ defense corps has undergone a makeover since the franchise sandwiched Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014 around a trip to the Weste Conference finals in 2013. Doughty was the only holdover in Monday’s lineup from the ’14 Cup team.

Martinez and Matt Greene were out again because of injuries. Scuderi played a vital role with the first Stanley Cup team, but signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the offseason of 2012. The Kings reacquired him via a trade earlier this season from the Chicago Blackhawks.

“Very confident,” Doughty said of his level of confidence in the Kings’ current lineup of defensemen. “We dropped two and maybe let in too many goals in a few of the games, but we’re still confident in this group, that we have six great ‘D’ in the lineup every night.

“And we have guys who are not in the lineup right now who should be back soon, who are unbelievable players, too. Very confident in our group. We only gave up two in the last game, which is our goal, to give up one or two every game and try to score three. We can do more, though.”

Speaking more generally about the Kings’ defensive play, Doughty added, “We’re still focusing on things we did wrong and trying to improve on them, too. We did some things right, there’s no doubt, and there were times in both games where we were the more dominant team.”

Injury updates

Martinez didn’t make the trip with the Kings because of an injury the team has declined to identify. Coach Darryl Sutter said before the series began that he would not give reporters injury updates, saying he had “put up with it” during the regular season.

Advertisement

Greene continues to skate with the scratched players as he attempts to retu to the lineup after undergoing shoulder surgery. He played only three games during the regular season because of the injury, all in October.

Lineup shuffle

Sutter retued Kyle Clifford to the lineup for Game 3 and scratched Nick Shore. Clifford played a limited role in Game 1, missing a close-range shot late in the third period that would have tied the score at 4. He sent his shot wide of the net, however.