While Kosiba and Menard are great at driving the pace of play for Little Caesars, Gavin Lock provides a bit of a different element to the team, which can be equally effective. Early in the game he showed good strength to fight off a defender while he came into the offensive zone along the wall. Shortly after he made a nice composed play at the side of the net to gather possession and tuck the puck into the net behind the field of view of RI’s goalie while he attempted to locate the puck. This goal, however, was quickly discredited due to a dislodged net. He made up for his non-goal later in the second period when he stuffed the rebound of a William Horcoff shot. In his own right, Lock has a pretty quick and powerful release. He finds himself in position to use it relatively often but at this level a shot from medium range against a competent goaltender is sometimes only as effective as what comes between or what comes after. It’s value came into effect once again in the third period as he used that release and seeing-eye accuracy to thread a high shot through a passing screen and over the RI goaltender’s shoulder.

One of Little Caesars’ players to stand out early and often was the sizable forward Gavin Lock. While it was evident throughout the game that Lock possessed a high level of skill as well as powerful and refined skating ability, it was also clear that Dallas’ defense had locked on to him early. His ability to play with the puck was significantly neutralized in this game, which seemed to give his linemate Luke Menard a little extra room to play. Fortunately, Lock was able to adapt to his conditions and identify outlets rather quickly, early in his possession. Despite such a strong defensive resistance against him, he made several attempts to out-maneuver his opponents. Where he seemed to get jammed up most was in a lack of lateral movement. Rather, he seemed to rely on pure puck skill and size to overcome his opponents. While I’m sure he’s had a ton of success playing this way throughout the year, it seems like he may need to get a bit more inventive against teams at Nationals. Away from the puck he was able to quickly recognize areas of opportunity, seeking momentary scoring chances by going to the net for a quick chip shot or one-timer opportunity. Late in the game he had a great one-timer from the bumper position on the powerplay in which he showed great flexibility and core strength to release with power from an awkward body position. There’s no question that he has a strong technical skillset. If given the opportunity to go 1-on-1 with a player or goalie he has the shot strength and skill to give trouble.