Drew Doughty is week to week for the Los Angeles Kings because of a lower-body injury.
The 35-year-old defenseman left a 1-0 win at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in the second period after taking a shot off his foot, but not before breaking up a scoring chance and clearing the puck out of the Kings' zone. Doughty was seen wearing a walking boot on his left leg after the game.
Coach Jim Hiller said on Monday this injury is not related to the broken ankle that caused him to miss the first 47 games of last season.
"Completely separate. It’ll heal just fine." Hiller said.
Hiller pointed to last season as proof the Kings can survive without Doughty for a period of time.
“Well, I mean, we lost him last year for I think five months, so we’ve gone through it before," Hiller said. "It’s like any player, someone else has to step up. Probably other players will assume more minutes. The nice part about this is he’s week to week not month to month. Last time was month to month, so we can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel already.”
Los Angeles (10-6-4) is second in the Pacific Division, one point behind the Anaheim Ducks.
Doughty has eight points (two goals, six assists) and a plus-7 rating in 19 games this season, his 18th with the Kings since being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. He is considered a candidate to play for Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in February. He had one assist in four games at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February playing in place of Alex Pietrangelo after the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman withdrew from the tournament on Jan. 26.
"I'm not making the team because of my offense anyway," Doughty said on Nov. 13. "It's my defense that's important."
Doughty ranks first in Kings history among defensemen in goals (162), assists (532), points (694), power-play points (303) and games (1,226), and is tied for second in plus/minus (plus-76), behind Bob Murdoch (plus-80). He's a two-time Stanley Cup champion (2012, 2014) and won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL in the 2015-16 season.
"He's obviously one of the biggest, if not the biggest, competitor I think in the League," Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. "It [stinks] to see him obviously be hurting, but again, he battles. He's going to do anything he can to keep playing or stay engaged and involved."
NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger and independent correspondent Harvey Valentine contributed to this report
