January 17 practice notes; Kopitar ready to face Sharks

Good afternoon from El Segundo, Insiders. We’re 30 hours or so away from Game 7 of the seven-game home stand, a series finale against the rival San Jose Sharks. In preparation for Wednesday’s game, Los Angeles’ forwards aligned as such:

Gaborik-Kopitar-Lewis
Pearson-Carter-Brown
King-Dowd/Andreoff-Setoguchi
Clifford-Shore-Nolan

-Welcome back, Anze Kopitar. After a stomach bug began creeping up on him after practice on Sunday, things took a turn for the worst. “It was just the afternoon and the night before where I was literally just laying in bed and doing nothing,” he said. “Couldn’t even drink water or anything and got about two hours of sleep the night before, so I figured that my energy level was not going to be up to par and that’s why I don’t think it would have made any sense to push it and you know, go down there and … play the first period and then say I can’t do it anymore.” He said he might have been available if the game was a night game, but that’s neither here nor there. Kopitar deemed himself ready and available for Wednesday’s game against San Jose.

-Not a casualty against Tampa Bay: Nic Dowd. On Monday the center took a Lightning clearing attempt flush in the face and without any deflection from his visor, representing the first time he suffered such a blunt force injury since he played for the NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild and took a slapshot to the face. “It was like the equivalent of being suckered,” he said. “I didn’t see it coming. You know I watched a video, I must have saw it coming more than I thought, because I did turn my face but I don’t remember seeing it coming at all.” He said he received five stitches on the inside of his cheek and a few more on the outside. “I mean, yeah, there’s some pain, for sure – just like any other bruise – but like I said, it was just really lucky,” he said. “It hit me in a perfect spot, just to be honest.” Hockey players! They have a higher threshold for pain than you and me.

-Speaking of high thresholds for pain, Kyle Clifford got into his seventh fight of the year, according to HockeyFights.com. Last year he had seven total; his high in any NHL season was 18, set in his 19-year-old rookie season. Gordie Howe Hat Tricks are rare; his last one, by his own memory, came in a 4-1 win over Ottawa at Staples Center on January 23, 2012. He was named the first star in that game, which featured a scrap with Zenon Konopka – one of the bigger Simpsons fans in the NHL, as Dustin Penner told me in 2011 – 2:51 into the game.

-Tyler Toffoli did not skate. His injury is not expected to be a long-term injury, according to multiple sources. Based on a bunch of conversations, he had been expected to get back on the ice in the middle of last week, but his date to try and test out his lower-body injury keeps getting pushed back. I’m wary any time a potential return to skating keeps changing, but this all happens very fluidly in real time, and at this point there’s no real reason for alarm. As noted on Twitter several days ago, I spoke with Dean Lombardi about Jonathan Quick. Don’t expect to see him on the ice any time soon. “No change – long way off,” Lombardi said. The Kings’ general manager had been in Brandon, Manitoba over the weekend and caught a Brandon Wheat Kings win over the Kootenay Ice in which 2016 second round draft pick Kale Clague registered two assists as part of a plus-one performance. “Kid makes a ton of plays,” Lombardi observed.

-San Jose scored four different types of goals in their 5-3 win over Winnipeg yesterday for the fourth time in club history. They scored at even strength, while shorthanded, on the power play, and into an empty net. The Sharks did not practice on their travel day down to L.A.

-Lots to come, including an extended media session with Darryl Sutter, a story on Brayden McNabb, who did not play yesterday because of a coach’s decision, some Kopitar quotes, and if time presents itself (but possibly tomorrow), a piece on Legends Night honoree Jari Kurri. There’s lots more to come, Insiders – and be on the lookout later this week into next on stories surrounding the final community projects undertaken by the Kings in their Forever 50 initiative.

Practice photos, courtesy of Jon Bradley: