Might Tampa Bay Lightning rookie forward Jonathan Drouin finally draw into another playoff game?
More on #tblightning @jodrouin27 taking warmups tonight and possibly playing. “Pretty excited,” he said. http://t.co/LyHRp4omYx
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) June 6, 2015
Tonight’s Game 2 against the Chicago Blackhawks would mark Drouin’s Stanley Cup Final debut and his fourth appearance of the playoffs; he drew into one game in the first round against the Detroit Red Wings and was a -2 through no fault of his own.
That’s when the narrative of “Drouin is bad near his own net” really started to gain traction. Minus performances in two games against the Montreal Canadiens didn’t help his cause, and he didn’t dress for a single game of the 7-game series win in the Eastern Conference Finals over the New York Rangers.
But with Tampa Bay’s bottom-6 (or 5) still struggling to provide offense, Drouin will at least take warm-ups for Game 2; as head coach Jon Cooper has noted, he gives the Lightning a “different look”.
Hopefully that “different look” is some puckhandling and scoring ability on the lower lines.
