Kings defenseman Drew Doughty wants to play more, and he didn’t like when his coach, Darryl Sutter, dressed seven blue-liners for Sunday’s 7-2 loss in San Jose.
“I think everyone gets out of rhythm when you dress seven D,” Doughty said, per the Los Angeles Times. “I only played 23 minutes. It’s like the lowest I’ve played in, who knows how long. I want to be playing 28-30 minutes. I didn’t like it too much. But it’s not my decision. Whatever they decide as a team, I just have to go along with it and accept it.”
Perhaps sensing he’d overstepped his bounds, Doughty added he’d be “totally fine” if Sutter went with seven D again tonight, but clearly he’d prefer to be out there more for Game 3, particularly with the Kings down 2-0 in the series.
Will Doughty get his wish?
Well, it doesn’t look like Sutter addressed the defense with reporters this morning, but you have to wonder if Matt Greene will be a scratch tonight. After being left out of Game 1, the big 30-year-old played 13:23 of Game 2 and finished with a team-worst minus-4 rating.
Doughty, meanwhile, was a plus-1 in Game 2.
“I can play 40 minutes if they really want me to and I’ll be fine,” said Doughty. “I want to play every single second out there but I understand that. It’s just not possible. We just need everybody to step up a little bit more.”