Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Doughty excelling while taking physical toll

Los Angeles Kings v Anaheim Ducks - Game Two

in Game Two of the Second Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center on May 5, 2014 in Anaheim, California.

Harry How

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty has been taking a beating all playoffs, but it hasn’t seemed to affect his play.

Following L.A.'s 2-0 win in Game 2, the physical toll he’s taken through the first two games against Anaheim was brought up to Doughty and, as Corey Masisak of NHL.com shares, he’s playing it off like it’s not a big deal.

“I’m always going to see that kind of stuff, even in the regular season I see the exact same stuff,” Doughty said. “Maybe not to this extent, where I’m getting run at 10-15 times a game. The San Jose series, I think they were running me way more than this team, so I’m not complaining.”

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said they’re making it a point to hit him and get him off his game, as Jon Rosen of L.A. Kings Insider shared, but Doughty’s performance is showing it’s not working. Not yet at least.

Through nine games of the playoffs, Doughty has a goal and seven assists and is carrying the bulk of the workload on the blue line averaging over 27 minutes of ice time per game. Now with Willie Mitchell and Robyn Regehr out, he’s having to do a lot more. That might just work out to the Kings benefit if he keeps playing like this.

Follow @JoeYerdonPHT