Kings prepare for Sedin’s possible return

Kings practice today was not rated PG. Just a few minutes into full-team drills, Darryl Sutter stopped action and unleashed a non-Disney monologue as he waved his stick about. Sutter stopped drills a couple other times during practice as well. Did Sutter sense some complacency in the Kings, or was he trying to make sure they stayed at full attention? Probably a little bit of both. Asked, afterward, about running a tough practice, Sutter said, “It’s supposed to be hard. … I know the series is three-nothing but, quite honestly, it could be just as easily the other way.’’

Sutter is certainly aware, as well, that there’s a chance Daniel Sedin might return to the Vancouver lineup tomorrow. Sedin has been out with concussion symptoms and hasn’t yet played in this series, but is expected to practice with the Canucks today. Asked about Sedin, who had 30 goals and 37 assists in 72 regular-season games, Sutter said, “Wouldn’t that make a significant change, if we could put a player like that back in our lineup? So, it’s going to be significant to theirs too.’’ Drew Doughty and Rob Scuderi also talked about the potential of facing Sedin…

DOUGHTY: “I don’t think our overall game plan, as a team, changes very much. When they’re both on the ice, it’s a little different. They know where each other are all the time. They make those little five-foot passes that other players can’t make. We’ve got to be very aware of that, and not give them a lot of space to make those plays, and know where they are on the ice at all times.’’

Question: How physical will you try to be against him?

DOUGHTY: “We’ll be just as physical as we are against any other player. Even though he was out with a concussion, it’s not like we’re going to let up on him. At the same time, we’re not going to be running around trying to hurt him or anything like that. We’re still going to play him hard. We need this game and we need this series, and we’re going to do everything we can to win it.’’

And here were Scuderi’s thoughts about Sedin’s possible return…

SCUDERI: “He had 35 or 40 goals. You can pretty much pencil him in for that every year. He’s an extremely productive player. The twins work extremely well with each other. They can play the puck, with space, to each other. A lot of blind passes, where they know where each other is going to be. It’s not going to change what we do, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on.’’

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