Kings defenseman Drew Doughty is expected to be out at least seven to 10 days after suffering an undisclosed upper-body injury Saturday, though General Manager Dean Lombardi said via email that the injury was not to the defenseman’s head.
Doughty, who had a concussion early last season, was slammed hard on a rising, open-ice hit by Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo 20 seconds into the Kings’ game at Philadelphia. Doughty appeared dazed when he returned to the bench. According to the time-on-ice charts at the NHL’s website, the 21-year-old defenseman played one more shift before being held out of the game.
While sitting on the bench Doughty appeared to be favoring his shoulder. Lombardi would not say if that was where Doughty was injured but specified that the prized defenseman did not suffer a head injury.
Doughty missed most of training camp as a restricted free agent until signing an eight-year, $56-million contract before the Kings left for their season-opening trip to Europe.
It was not clear whether the league would impose any supplementary discipline against Rinaldo, who had three goals and 331 penalty minutes in 60 games last season with the Flyers’ American Hockey League farm team. Every play is reviewed in the NHL’s "War Room" in Toronto, and fines or suspensions can be imposed by executives of the hockey operations department if they feel sanctions are merited.
The Kings were scheduled to return to Southern California after Saturday's game and practice in El Segundo at noon Sunday. They will play their Staples Center opener on Tuesday against St. Louis.
-- Helene Elliott
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