Los Angeles Kings saw Anze Kopitar leave their game against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday with a lower body injury, and he was not able to return to the ice.
According to Lisa Dillman at the Los Angeles Times, Kopitar suffered a "lower body injury" and was announced as questionable to return to the game. Kopitar did not end up getting back on the ice and Dillman writes that she was "not sure" if he suffered a "recurrence" of the same injury that he had previously when the Kings played against Boston.
Dillman observed that the injury he suffered against Boston was not likely a serious one, as he had a "hat trick two games later" when the team played the Rangers. Kopitar did not get back on the ice after the opening period and Rich Hammond at the Orange County Register reported that he did not see anything "obvious" about what caused the injury. Hammond wrote that he "went back and watched" the last shift for Kopitar and that there were "no hits, no falls" that showed an injury.
The Kings are currently leading the Pacific division over the Ducks and losing Kopitar for any period of time would be tough for the team to deal with. The Kings have already dealt with a number of injuries over the past two weeks, including to Jonathan Quick, Christian Ehrhoff and Marian Gaborik. The team is hoping to get everyone back and healthy for the stretch run and they will keep a close eye on Kopitar heading into the next stretch of games on the schedule.
The Kings come in after losing to the Blues in the game where Kopitar went down and they will play against the Predators on Saturday. The team could consider holding Kopitar out if he has some injury issues, as they will be returning home for three games next week. The team has the Flames, Oilers and Sabres over the next stretch before a big game on the road against the Ducks on February 28.
