That was a tough game for my local Tri City Americans. The Wild controlled play from the drop of the puck. The Americans really struggled getting the puck out of their own end. The game was at least somewhat competitive until the 2nd period when the Wild poured it on. Final score: 8-1 in favor of Wenatchee. Here are some key prospect takeaways from the game:
Lukas Dragicevic: That was an ugly game for the Kraken prospect. He struggled in all aspects of the game. I have watched the defenseman several times over the last couple of years and he is typically dangerous with the puck on his blade. Last night was not one of those occasions. He seemed timid with the puck and instead of stickhandling around defenders he simply threw pucks into open areas of space. In the 2nd period, Dragicevic grabbed the puck and was leading a 2-1 scoring chance. As he crossed the red line, he threw the puck right at the defenseman and lost the scoring chance for the Ams. To cap it off, Dragicevic ended the contest with 4 minor penalties; one of which was a crosscheck that caught a defender in the face and two others resulting from bad positioning on the defensive side of the ice. Grade: F
Graham Sward: Sward was better than Dragicevic but not by much. He ended with an assist on the night resulting from a deflection on a Sward shot on the powerplay. Sward played in all areas and was seemingly on the ice the entire game. At times he struggled with breakouts out of the defensive zone. Early in the 2nd period when the game was still in reach, Sward retrieved the puck in his own zone behind the net and slid the puck behind him to the front of the crease and right to an Americans player resulting in a grade A scoring chance. Grade: C-
Miles Cooper: Cooper played in every facet of the game; powerplay and penalty kill. He ended the night with a goal by deflecting a Sward point shot on the powerplay. Other than that, he wasn’t very noticeable. He didn’t push play or carry the puck often on his stick. I struggled to watch him make a noticeable impact. Grade: C
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