For all the reasons analysts and fans can say the Arizona Coyotes are a very bad team, Lawson Crouse has shown why he is one of the best role-playing rookies in the NHL.
The Arizona Coyotes were absolutely demolished in Pittsburgh on Monday, losing 7-0.
Every segment of the team was dismembered by Pittsburgh in the Yotes’ worst effort thus far this season.
But the team bounced back Tuesday night, handling Detroit en route to a 4-1 win.
Both the youth and veterans, who have been credited with a lot of the team’s woes so far, stepped up in a strong team effort.
But one player who has been here all season, even in the Pittsburgh drubbing, has been Lawson Crouse.
Many have been waiting for Crouse to break out of his shell and truly utilize his size, strength, and the speed which he was touted for when he was drafted in the first round by Florida in 2015.
Crouse had spent the beginning of the season going mostly unnoticed, occasionally bodying opponents up but mostly just trying to find his feet in the offensive zone.
He looked like an average lower-line NHL player with minimal offensive production.
Then came the game against Nashville and something clicked.
Former first round pick Lawson Crouse came out to play.
The Sheriff got a huge assist. Crouse not only out skated veteran defenseman Yannick Weber and his defensive partner Petter Granberg to the puck, but bodied Weber off the puck and had the vision to see Alex Goligoski stepping up from the point to take a shot.
A little later on in the game, the event many Crouse fans have been waiting for happened, as Crouser defined his physical play with a fight with P.K. Subban.
However, as Arizona Coyotes broadcaster Tyson Nash would say, P.K. “took the wrong door with this one”.
As much as I dislike “Nash-isms” and all, Tyson was on point with his comments.
Crouse threw Subban around and with his huge wingspan and size, there was no way P.K. was going to survive that fight to get the ‘W’.
Moreover, the same old story happened Tuesday night in Detroit, as Crouse both showed up offensively and defensively for the Arizona Coyotes, proving his worth to the team as a young role-player.
Crouse jumped up on a rush with the team’s leading scorer, veteran Radim Vrbata, and was rewarded with a beautiful saucer pass from Vrby for him to stick in the net past Jimmy Howard.
Physically, Crouse added a hit and a blocked shot as well. He also took on over a minute of PK time, which shows you that Dave Tippett trusts him in the defensive zone.
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Lawson Crouse has become, in short, a valuable piece of talent to the Arizona Coyotes.
A volatile combination of speed and size, Crouse has shown over the last few games that he has not only recognized his role with the team, but is embracing it.