LAS VEGAS — The evolution of defenseman Jackson LaCombe continued in Game 1 of the Ducks’ second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena. To say he was involved in ways great and small would be a vast understatement.
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The Ducks wouldn’t want it any other way.
To be sure, not all of his play was positive in Game 1.
Or negative.
It was a mixed bag, to say the least.
LaCombe was their best player in many respects.
Was he their most effective player?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
What was most impressive was how he owned it after the Ducks’ 3-1 loss in Game 1.
All of it.
For starters, he called his second-period decision to pass to teammate Troy Terry rather than shooting into Carter Hart’s wide-open net “just a stupid mistake.” Had he shot the puck from point-blank range, it would have almost certainly resulted in the Ducks’ first goal.
“I already made the decision to pass,” LaCombe admitted.
Asked if he had spoken to LaCombe about failing to shoot the open shot, Ducks coach Joel Quenneville smiled wryly and said simply, “We had a great chance there with No. 2. I didn’t have to say anything to him. I think we all knew he would have liked to have had that one back.”
Quenneville referred to LaCombe by his uniform number.
Later, in the most pivotal and most controversial moment of Game 1, LaCombe made a soft pass along the boards instead of a harder one after beating the Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel to the puck after what seemed to be an obvious icing call was waved off by one of the game’s linesmen.
Instead of bemoaning the non-call and how it led to the tiebreaking goal by Ivan Barbashev with 4:58 to play, LaCombe faulted his play with the puck, saying, “You know, you’ve just got to keep playing hockey. It doesn’t mean I can make a soft play after that. So, yeah, that’s just how it is.”
Between the two plays, LaCombe flashed the individual brilliance that made hockey fans, pundits, and no doubt some casual fans drawn to the Ducks’ first playoff appearance in eight years, sit up and take notice of the 25-year-old, fourth-year veteran from Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
Most impressive was the way he set up the Ducks’ lone goal with a hard-charging rush down the left flank, skating onto a dangerous patch of ice to Hart’s right, drawing the defense to him and then slipping a flawless pass onto the stick of teammate Mikael Granlund, who was stationed in the right faceoff circle.
In a nanosecond, the puck was behind Hart and the Ducks had tied it, 1-1, with 6:03 left. If not for the blown icing call, LaCombe’s poor clearing attempt (and his failure to shoot earlier) plus Barbashev’s tiebreaking goal, the pass against the grain to Granlund might have been the play of the game.
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LaCombe credited Granlund and defenseman John Carlson for the goal, declining to take any for himself.
“Johnny made a great play on the wall (passing the puck ahead),” LaCombe said after recording his team-leading 10th point of the playoffs and his ninth assist in seven games, which was tops in the NHL postseason going into Tuesday’s games around the league. “‘Granny’ made a great shot.”
LaCombe was credited with two shots on goal in Game 1, with another two blocked and one that missed the mark. He also had two hits, one takeaway, three giveaways and a minus-1 defensive rating in a game-high 28 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time, about a minute more than his playoff average.
The Ducks want and expect him to be an active participant in every game he plays. No question he responded to the challenge during the Ducks’ first-round series victory over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. McDavid, playing with an injury, had only one goal in six games.
Jacob Trouba, LaCombe’s frequent defense partner, objected when a reporter dared to use air quotes while describing how McDavid, the game’s finest offensive player in an era filled with many superb scorers and passers, was “shut down” in the first round.
“How do you put the air quotes on it?” Trouba asked, incredulous.
It was a fair point.
LaCombe’s play against McDavid and running mate Leon Draisaitl was a key to the Ducks’ victory, plain and simple. LaCombe’s play also served to move him into a spotlight that suddenly shines brightly on him while he shadows Eichel and Mitch Marner in the second round.
Trouba, for one, has zero doubts that LaCombe can handle his latest assignment.
And the next one.
And the next one.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
“He comes to the rink, he works hard, he wants to get better,” Trouba said of LaCombe. “It’s great to play with him. He talks a lot. He’s positive with all his teammates about what he sees on the ice. He’s communicating, and as far as leadership, he’s growing into that role quite a bit where guys are looking at him to step up and lead, and he’s done a great job of that.”
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NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND GAME 2
Who: Ducks (down 1-0) at Vegas
When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: TNT, truTV, HBO Max