Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde isn’t alone in terms of being impressed with pro try-out forward Austin Watson’s physicality, as MLive’s Ansar Khan notes:
“It’s amazing,” Lalonde said. “Just one guy with that mentality helps the group out a ton. Up to that point, Austin was good in his game. He kills (penalties). He had a beautiful Grade-A chance on the back door, five- on-five. He’s done some good things with his play also.”
Watson was ejected at 16:01 of the first period of the 4-3 overtime loss after roughing it up with Jan Jenik. He received 27 penalty minutes (instigator misconduct, aggressor, fighting, instigator minor). Players liked what they saw.
“You want a guy like that on your team,” Christian Fischer said. “He’s well-respected around the league. He protects his teammates, and he does a really good job at that. He’s made one hell of a career out of it. Mo Seider is an all-star defenseman. He’s not doing those things you shouldn’t. Not only Austin, I think there’s other guys.”
Said Olli Maatta: “It gets us to stick together. I think we did that. I think that’s the toughness you need. It’s not necessarily fighting anymore, but I think that’s a team spirit. Don’t back down and you support your teammates, your partner, your linemates. I think that’s the mindset we’ve had all three years I’ve been here and I think we’re going to keep doing that.”
Early in the third period, Cole Reinhardt took exception to a hit on a teammate from Simon Edvinsson. He tried to pick a fight with the 6-6 rookie, who essentially hauled him to the ice with one arm.
“Preseason, I think it’s good to get those emotions back,” Fischer said. “Starting on Thursday, there’s going to be 82 games of that type of emotion. I think it’s nice to kind of get a little feistiness in the game and show kind of just that fire. We’ve had quite a few spirited matchups with that team and I would assume some more coming. Obviously, nobody wants anybody to get hurt, but to get those juices flowing again. And I love our 23 guys vs. anybody else. That was fun to watch yesterday.”
Continued; the Leafs are dressing Ryan Reaves opposite Watson tonight, so we may see a scrap.
