Drew Doughty enjoying Kings' playoff push

The Los Angeles Kings are working hard to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs – and that means Drew Doughty is at risk, as usual, of being overworked.
But the L.A. defenceman was not complaining as the Kings prepared to visit the Vancouver Canucks in the first of three stretch-run games between the rivals, which could very well determine post-season positions.
“I enjoy, obviously, playing lots of minutes and playing in all situations,” he said. “I love being counted on out there. When the pressure situations arise, I feel like I perform the best. I think I’ve done a pretty good job at it, but we’ve still got a lot of games left and I have to continue to elevate my game and play even better.”
Doughty was averaging 29:23 before the contest. The Kings are relying on him to be a lynchpin, and offensive contributor, as their defence corps deals with the season-long absence of Slava Voynov, who has missed the entire season due to an ongoing domestic violence case. Rearguard Alec Martinez who has been limited to 27 games due to injuries.
Doughty, a London, Ont., native who has won two Stanley Cups and two gold medals even though he is only 25, finds it unusual when he is not logging 30 to 31 minutes per game in his seventh NHL season. He is likely to become even busier in the weeks ahead. But, other than taking optional practices off and making sure he rests more on off days, he is not doing anything differently in terms of his routine.
“I’m just going with my normal routine that I’ve been doing,” he said. “This is my seventh year, so I haven’t changed too much. I’m just used to playing those minutes, so it doesn’t seem like I’m any more tired or any less tired. I’m just used to it now.”
But he is getting a bit tired of L.A.’s tendency to make a late push for a post-season berth. The Kings find themselves in a situation similar to the one in 2011-12, when they grabbed the eighth and final post-season berth in the Western Conference. They won the first of their two Stanley Cups in three seasons. Many NHLers contend the Kings do what they do because it’s impossible to maintain their highly physical style and strong late-season play for a full 82-game campaign.
Now, with most of their remaining games on the road, the Kings must win in other teams’ rinks. Doughty believes there is a better way.
“We never think we leave it too late, but we never want to do that, either,” he said. “We want to be able to start off the season hot and, hopefully, be in first place. That’s our big goal. We never really (say): ‘Yeah, let’s just take a break and then we’ll turn it on at the end of the season.’ It doesn’t happen that way. So we’re unhappy that we’re in the position that we’re in now. We need to do something about it and get in the playoffs.”
Coach Darryl Sutter noted that about half his roster does not have experience in Stanley Cup and conference finals that the other half possesses. Some good teams will make the playoffs and some good teams won’t, he added in his usual understated way.
To get in, the Kings will have to outperform the Canucks and Calgary Flames in four games remaining between the teams after Thursday.
“We really had to put a mark on these division games coming up at the end of the season,” said Doughty. “We need to win them in order to be in the playoffs, and they’re big four-point games.”
Despite the difficulty of the situation, he is enjoying the task.
“This is a fun time of the year,” he said. “Obviously, besides playoffs, to be able to, hopefully, get to the playoffs is the most fun. You just have to work hard and win games. We love this time of year, and this is a time when our team starts to play better – so we’re looking forward to it.”