Kp, it absolutely was part of the goal against. Sure, maybe the turnover leads to a 2 on 1 instead of 2 on 0, but I would take those improved odds any time. He knew he goofed up right away.
I have to ask, why is everyone being so defensive about this? Its cut and dried. The kid made a wrong choice in his first game of the year. Kids learn on the job, they need to get these kinds of mistakes out of the way so they can make the right play going forward. We can't expect perfection here, and if anything I would rather have him err on the side of playing his game.
To me at least, it's focusing on the wrong issues.
- the goal is 100% on PLD for not knowing physics and that two objects can't occupy the same space. He could have used the boards.
- Clarke is an offensive defenseman. He smells blood and attacks. Expecting the offensive defenseman and rookie to play a conservative game is no different than coaches trying to turn Kaliyev into a grinder to start his NHL career.
We know Clarke has a lot to learn, especially on defensive reads. Focusing on a play where the responsibility is on someone else and using it as evidence of how he needs to learn it is silly.
That's the kind of play Doughty would make when he was younger. It's setting the pace and smelling blood. No reasonable player would expect his teammate to give it away like that, especially so soon.
The general WORST case scenario is the puck goes out past the blue line, but control is lost, and Washington needs to touch up anyway. At which point a player would be expected to reset.
Four players from the opposition hemmed into the wrong zone when your team has control and your team is breaking out is a perfect time to activate.
